The Great Exterminator
by twinbuster2
Summary: "You've given me nothing but pain and misery! You want me to forgive you? Never. I live now only to make you suffer." The Soldier thought she was alone in the universe until she heard of the Doctor. And now that she has, she will kill him. A story about redemption. New adventures. Canon pairings, with very slow progression Doctor/OC. 9-12 Doctor only.
1. Prologue

_Summary: The Soldier thought she was alone in the universe until she heard of the Doctor. And now that she has, she will kill him. A story about redemption._

 **AN: This story is not romance-centric. That being said, there will be elements of romance thrown in. This is a story about murder and redemption.**

 **Also, I have respect for soldiers and what they do. However for the sake of the story, I will be introducing some controversial aspects to being one. If you are uncomfortable with this then please don't read. However my protagonist is a soldier, and will mostly remain one throughout the story, so without revealing anything, I hope that is enough of an incentive to make you continue.**

 **Additionally the Doctor will not become central to the story-line until later. The Doctor will be making appearances, but truthfully the Doctor's first appearance won't be for a while. This will be OC-centred at first for character development and I will be following TV canon but not much of Classic Who. And there will be no episode regurgitation. I will not be adding a character that will take canon character's lines nor be writing a self-insert fic….hopefully.**

 **Lastly, I will try to stick to canon about the Time Lords, but since so much about them is vague, I'll be exercising my creative license.**

 **I strongly recommend that you read until Chapter 10. That's where the story starts picking up with active Doctor involvement. If you still don't like it, then criticism is welcome.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Any characters and situations that resemble real life situations are purely coincidental. I only own my Original Character.**

Prologue

The word "soldier" exists almost universally in some form or another throughout time and space. But what is a soldier? _Who_ is a soldier? When humans think of soldiers, they think of war and destruction, and if they feel benevolent, they call them protectors or enforcers of morality. And they're not wrong. Soldiers are all that and more. In the most general sense they are people, "people" referring to all races and aliens, who choose to unite together and tackle a problem that they perceive to be a danger against them or their species. And contrary to a very popular misconception, while soldiers are all uniform in their attire and outward personality, they do _not_ have a uniform outlook on life, or more particularly on the taking of life.

Throughout the universe, almost all the species have some concept of the word. Daleks from Skaro perceive themselves to be the master warrior race. Sontarans, a clone race, have a similar perception. Then there are the more moderate species like humans, Silurians, Sycorax, Chula, Weevils, and numerous other aliens that assign a percentage of their population to the occupation. Finally, there are the absolute peaceful, or the absolutely defenceless, depending on the perspective, like the Ood or Star Whales, who defend themselves on instinct, and have no true concept of strategic defence.

Time Lords, a nearly extinct race, are perhaps the most controversial and hypocritical species when it comes to their perception of soldiers and war. They were a peaceful race in the beginning, almost indolent in their neutrality, ironically because of the destruction they caused with the civilization of the planet Minyos by sharing their advanced technology and military. Despite claims of peace afterwards, they had the largest military force in the universe and an arsenal, named Omega's Arsenal that had the capacity to wipe out the entire universe. The Time Lord President Rassilion nearly did.

And really, things are never so simple either. All species discover a certain problem that escalates and complicates until simplifying, as done above, becomes illogical. But when the situation escalates into battle, who fights to defend against, or attack, the problem? Soldiers. In the grand scheme of things, soldiers are nothing but pawns in the games of mad men.

But how do soldiers fare through the madness? Some make it through intact with no injury or with mild psychological trauma, while others barely survive. Some, after the taste of first blood, become heartless killers, while others bear a relentless weight of sorrow.

However, this is a tale about a soldier who went through everything, yet nothing at all.


	2. The Solitary Confinement

**AN: The cover image depicts the general attire of the protagonist. The face is hidden obviously because she's a time lord.**

 **Again I do not own Doctor Who. Only the OC and the aliens I will undoubtedly invent.  
**

* * *

The Solitary Confinement

The Soldier reclined haphazardly on the jump seat of the console room. It had been at least a few years since she'd last even considered posture and decades since she'd outgrown the involuntary rigidity that accompanied her every movement. She gave her head a shake, trying to dispel the useless thought.

Maybe she should visit a planet. No, she shouldn't. She was a Time Lord-no- _Lady-_ after all. Everything about them was considered invaluable and could be harvested, from their regenerative bodies to their near omniscient minds. But she could find trouble! And would maybe, likely create a change in a timeline somewhere that shouldn't happen. Better to stay where she was.

She thumped her head against seat and felt the light brush of the TARDIS consciousness against her nearly solitary mind. The TARDIS was urging her to move towards the rudimentary piloting of primitive ships in the time vortex.

The Soldier paused. Could it be another Time Lord? Another who escaped the Time War perhaps?

Hope sprung her into action, and she pressed her finger against a button on the console and a holographic screen materialized in front of her. Telepathically asking the TARDIS for a keyboard, she scanned the vortex for surrounding technology. As she spotted a ship on the screen, she quickly input the coordinates to identify the species origin of the tech.

It was a Chula ship. A junk ambulance ship speeding through the vortex.

Her stomach sank in familiar disappointment at the Gallifreyan written in front of her. Before the scan could proceed further to identify organisms onboard, she angrily slammed the acceleration lever next to her.

The scan abruptly stopped as the TARDIS shook and zoomed through the vortex. As her TARDIS came to an sudden stop, she wondered if she should finally go outside and find companionship; any kind of companionship, with whatever species she found outside.

It had been decades. Or was it centuries? It didn't feel that long. But she couldn't tell anymore. She hadn't left her TT Capsule since she'd been banished. Her wonderful, beautiful Type 340 TARDIS. They had stopped creating them when she'd joined the Army at eight. When she'd gotten her TARDIS license, it was the only one she could afford. Well, the one she had been assigned due to her plebian status.

When she'd first walked into her TARDIS, it was like she'd made a self-discovery. Her TARDIS had been untouched, common and unwanted and she found more in common with her TARDIS than she ever had with anyone in Arcadia. And now, this TARDIS was the only thing that shared telepathic space with her. The only thing that could _._

She fell deeper into despair as she reminisced.

* * *

The Soldier had been born in an Outsider family. Born and not loomed like the other Time Lords.

Outsiders were Time Lords that were disillusioned with the Time Lord way of life and left the cities and moved to the wastelands. They lived with less advanced technology, largely due to unavailability of resources but still much more advanced than the rest of the universe. It was a simple life, and sometimes some of the Outsiders rebelled against the corrupt rule of the Cities.

She'd been born into a relatively normal family, the sixth of eight children. Most of her siblings had joined the local schools and occupations and she'd been nothing particularly special. Her father had a deep distrust of the Time Lords in the Cities and had protested her mother's proposal of her joining either the Army or Academy to become a Time Lady. Her mother argued that they needed someone in the family to join to help with the finances.

She should have been in the Academy in Arcadia. The only reason she hadn't, was because the Soldier had been under the impression that Academy Ladies were stuffy pompous women who worried only about status. So she had insisted on the Army because she thought it suited her carefree, tomboyish nature. It wasn't that she was wrong, but she hadn't fully grasped what being in the Army actually meant. While the learning content was essentially the same for the Army and Academy, the Army focused more on how to kill, how to find weaknesses of the opponent, the glory of the Time Lord Presidents and how their orders were absolute gospel. They trained her to body to kill, her mind to work out the quickest ways to destroy enemies. She had been nothing special in her school days too. Her Army name had been Alpha Plebian. The name had been a tool of degradation by the high and mighty, with only the high class receiving the privilege of a name without the class designation. It hadn't helped that she had been trembling in fear at the sight of the Untempered Schism. Apparently, it had been an average reaction.

She had resented being common until she'd heard of the Doctor near her graduation. The Doctor had been exiled to Earth because he had broken the non-interference rule after saving humans from an alien species known as the War Lord, who had sought to conquer a distant galaxy with the aid of the Time Lord War Chief. It was a scandal because the Doctor had been working with the Celestial Intervention Agency and was from a high born family. He'd been coined the Renegade Time Lord for all his anti-Time Lord actions and despite all the negative attention the Doctor had gained, the Soldier had only seen the similarity between him and her father, who'd also protested the non-interference law. However, while her father had retreated to the wastelands, the Doctor had been exiled to the primitive planet of the beings he'd saved, Earth, and forced to lose a regeneration. Those events had destroyed any wishes whatsoever she'd had of being high born.

Then she'd graduated. She'd chosen a common title, 'The Soldier' and swore to do whatever it took to keep those she loved safe, also a common oath. She'd fought in countless skirmishes for two centuries before she was even considered for a promotion. Eventually she was promoted as a Guard in the Citadel to the High Councilor Partisan, who was perhaps the only sane one in the High Council. Romana, highly publicized to have travelled with the Renegade Doctor, became President. She was also the only Time Lord that the Soldier had ever loved. It had been painful and one sided and the leading factor in the Soldier regenerating into the first and only time as a man. Nothing really changed, though Romana listened to the Soldier's pleas of uniting the Outsiders and Time Lords against the turbulent future.

And then the Demon had come to life; the demon claiming to be Rassilion because how could that demon _be_ the holy legendary Rassilion? He'd issued the Final Sanction and killed the Partisan for being the voice of protest. The Time War had already gone on for two centuries by then and the Time Lords were blinded by the War and Rassilion to see reason.

So then, for justice and more importantly, love, the Soldier agreed to help Romana steal the Hand of Omega and Key of Rassilion from Rassilion and destroy it so that the Final Sanction would fail. Romana only managed to damage the Key before they were both caught. Romana was imprisoned but the Soldier, being from the Army, was more gravely punished for disobedience. The High Council completely removed the telepathic presence of the Time Lords from her mind. The trauma of removing billions had fractured her mind and induced the third regeneration that had transformed the Soldier back to a girl.

The Soldier had been sentenced to dematerialization from the Universe into the Void, when The Visionary had stepped forward. The Visionary, the lone time-sensitive Time Lady on the High Council, had managed to subvert the sentence by spouting nonsense about the Soldier's significance in saving the Time Lord race and then suggested banishment so that the Soldier could never return to Gallifrey. The Soldier had left, isolated in mind like never before. Even worse, she was disillusioned with Time Lords, love, and any hope of stopping the War.

Her Captain had been considerate enough to let her take her TARDIS discreetly when she left. And once she'd entered the TARDIS and the vortex, she hadn't left its confines.

* * *

A great rumble within the TARDIS jolted her out of her thoughts and the Soldier jumped into action, searching for plausible faults. The shaking persisted and grew worse as she felt the TARDIS fighting a summons somewhere.

The TARDIS sent her images of red grass, orange skies and citadels. _Gallifrey._

All of a sudden, the TARDIS door banged open and tilted steeply sideways, making the Soldier fall out of the TARDIS and onto a silicon oxide based ground. The Soldier abruptly turned back to see her TARDIS dematerializing away.

 _Come back! Please come back!_ She screamed telepathically, hoping the telepathic programming would override the summons. It didn't.

She was truly alone.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter was hard to write for some reason. Hope you liked it! Review please :)**


	3. Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire

The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire

The Soldier moved silently through the trees of the Star Born Estate, avoiding the surveillance bots patrolling the grounds. She used the cover of fern trees and tread lightly and quickly to the private beach owned by some rich human. She scaled the high rocks nimbly and jumped to the cave on the cliff. She withdrew her groceries from her dimensionally transcendent-bigger on the inside-pocket and carelessly threw the bag into the cave. She drew back and sat down to watch the setting sun.

The year was 199,939 AD.

It had been a month since the Soldier had been stranded on the primitive planet Earth. She hated it. She hated the backward technology, the astonishingly docile dull humans who seemed to function as robots and the lack of any other species. The humans were disturbingly close minded and were devolving into a stunted society. But what she hated most was that it was _wrong_. Every Time Lord Sense of hers was telling her that the timeline had been tampered with, and she secretly feared that the cause was her.

The Soldier hadn't left the cave for the first week, unable to reconcile that she had been abandoned. The second week, survival instincts had pushed her to eat the seaweed that had drifted onto the beach. The third week, some obscure hope of contacting Gallifrey had made her snap out of her stupor and then she'd finally noticed the nagging wrongness that had been poking her consciousness about the timeline.

It took seeing a crowd of humans getting zapped in the brain for broadcasting to realize that she likely wasn't the cause for the distortion in the timeline. Well, she wasn't going to break any more Gallifrey rules and interfere with the species. She wanted to go home, and compiling a list of crimes against Gallifreyan Law wasn't going to help with that. Rather the chips in their brains had made it easier to hypnotize the humans to do her bidding. She'd been using any passing human as a delivery service for basic utilities.

The Soldier had been careful to avoid any scanning technology, aware that her being a Time Lord would create unnecessary troubles. With the Time War that was probably still going on, Time Lords had attained reputations of being as dangerous as, if not more than, Daleks. All the Soldier wanted to do was locate any signaling technology and send a message to Gallifrey or even her own TARDIS so that she could return home.

She hadn't yet left the Estate, but she was forming plans to pave her way back to Gallifrey. It had been a long while since she had to be responsible for her own life and actions. She had been living a life based on following orders, acting and thinking as a team. Being alone and independent was disconcerting and lonely.

The Soldier snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of a middle-aged human woman shouting at her, below from the beach.

"Hello? Who are you? You are not authorized to be here! This is the Star Born Estates, belonging to my husband Troughton Black. Get out before I call for reinforcements!"

The Soldier leaped down agilely, planning to wipe her memory clean about this sighting. The human had brown hair, was passingly attractive compared to the other humans she'd seen. She stepped forward as the human retreated and raised her hands to the woman's head to perform the memory wipe.

o0o

Leila Black had come out to the beach after an aggravating fight with her husband. He had been pressurizing her to get her chip implantation done and get rid of the Arc Receiver she had built to receive transmission from the newly built Satellite Five. She had been strolling along the beach when she had felt the impulse to go for a swim. She had undressed and tossed her clothes onto the sand and jumped into the sea. Swimming out till the currents and turning back to the shore, she had caught sight of a distant figure in red and silver sitting on a high outcropping on the cliff face.

She hurried back, fearing for her safety. After dressing herself, she'd marched below the cliff, pulling her courage together.

The red figure jumped fearlessly off the outcropping, and suddenly, she felt terror crawl up her spine as she saw its profile. The figure stood, the red hood covering most of its features. It was wearing a silver armor body suit, and attached at the neck was a rather ostentatious cape that fluttered in the wind. Although the figure seemed to only be 5'11, something in the demeanor convinced her that it was much taller. The figure moved towards her intimidatingly, and she felt her legs move instinctively backwards.

As it reached out to her, she caught a glimpse of a pale, merciless face with deep brown eyes that were so empty she feared for a moment that the figure wasn't even _alive._ The strong aquiline nose on a rather delicately framed face confused Leila on the figure's gender, and an inner instinct warned her against the figure's approach. She pressed the Alarm button, summoning the security bots, unnerved by the figure.

"Stop!" She cried in panic. To her shock, the figure paused in its movement and shifted its hood so that it could look at her more clearly. Feeling trepidation at its cold assessing gaze, Leila retreated further.

"Look, y-you are out of bounds. You are trespassing. This is private property." She said, trying to gather her wits against her instinctual fear against the figure. It gave no response.

"I won't repeat myself again! If you don't leave right this instant, I'll call the police." She said her voice a little shrill in her fear.

The figure tilted its head, considered her for a moment longer, before it drew back.

"I was merely admiring the sunset."

It was a she! There was no mistaking the voice. Leila felt herself relax slightly.

"Up from there? Anyways, you are not allowed to stay." Leila repeated firmly, feeling her composure returning.

"You have so much land. Why are you so disconcerted that someone is watching a sunset on the beach? It's not like you found me loitering next to your house." The female asked, the monotone making Leila feel foolish.

She opened her mouth to reply, but paused unable to form a suitable reply.

o0o

There was something different about this human. When the Soldier had caught gaze with the human female, she'd used the very low hypnotic field that had been sufficient to subdue all the other humans she'd used as a delivery service, but the female in front of her had snapped out of it almost instantly.

So, this human didn't have a chip in her brain. That was surprising but the female was still a hindrance. She couldn't leave the only haven she'd found especially since she didn't know what was altering the timeline. For some reason she couldn't explain, she didn't want to mentally damage the one human she'd met who had _not voluntarily undergone brain damage._

"Listen, forget you saw me. I will make my way out." It wasn't such a big problem really. The Soldier would sneak back in later and hide out in the trees for a while.

"Oh." The human seemed surprised.

As the Soldier turned to leave, she heard a surveillance bot approaching.

"Security services summoned. Security services summoned. Detecting unregistered humanoids in the area." The bot had breached the forest cover and was approaching the beach. The Soldier fell back to long trained instincts.

 _Cone-like structure. Strong physical resemblance to Dalek. All environment perception sensors located on top with the red light-LED. High likelihood of central processing being located on top with weapon arsenal at the more spacious bottom._

 _Weak point: The red LED area. Method of destruction: Forcibly withdraw a weapon from its arsenal and destroy weak point. Restrictions: Act quick enough to avoid scanning._

These thoughts lasted for a fraction of a second before the Soldier jumped high into the air, to escape the range of the scanner, calculating that the height would be out of the range of the radial beam. The Soldier propelled herself forward, and landed behind the bot. Quickly finding the manual override panel before the bot turned, she opened it and was shocked to find that there was no Off button. Finding the Engage Hostile lever, she pressed it and broke the mechanical arm that drew out, spun around and smashed it onto the weak point.

The bot sparked and the Soldier hit it again. The bot powered off, the processing unit having been destroyed. She dropped the arm and turned around to survey the area to make sure there were no other bots.

She turned to the human and found her shaking in horror.

The Soldier felt panic envelop her. She couldn't let the human report this. It didn't matter if she was 'chipped' or not. The human needed to call off her red alert before she was discovered. She'd have to hypnotize her; use a strong field.

But the after effects of a strong field could damage the human brain.

Why had her first chat with a normal human gone so wrong? Maybe she could try reasoning with her. And if that didn't work, she would use strong hypnotism as a last resort.

She approached the human cautiously, raising her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"I apologize for the damages. But I cannot be scanned by devices. It is harmful to my biology. The radiation is harmful to me." The Soldier invented, hoping the excuse of self-defense would calm the human.

"What?! How-how did you-? Wha-? Your biology?!" The human repeated, still shaking.

"Yes, my biology. I am not human." The Soldier clarified.

"But-but how did you get here if you aren't human? Non-humans haven't been allowed on Earth for at least two hundred years!" She voiced with shrill disbelief.

"Ye-Really? And why is that?" The Soldier asked, her curiosity coming out despite herself. "No, it does not matter. I-I crashed on Earth and my ship sank into the ocean."

"Oh." The woman seemed to calm down. A frown replaced her face. "You still owe me for damages."

"Go your way, and forget you saw me. I will not bother you again. I will pay you back tomorrow and leave the money outside your door." The Soldier offered.

"No! Wait, don't you want to go to Intergalactic Agency and get a ship to go back?" The woman asked, confused.

The Soldier considered her for a moment, thinking her rather sensible idea over. But there was still something wrong with most of the humans here. Their technology. And her Senses were telling her that this was a bad idea. The last few days had made her realize that some kind of life form was manipulating the humans. During her stroll through an alleyway, she'd detected a familiarly designed antenna that was receiving a hypnotic signal from somewhere above. It was broadcasting right into the human mind.

All of this was _wrong_. Her Senses were haywire, and she'd been hard pressed not to destroy that antenna to stop the nagging of her Senses. But she hadn't wanted to be detected, so she had disappeared silently.

"I don't think that's a good idea. " The Time Lady responded quietly.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

The Soldier contemplated telling the truth, or at least the partial truth. It would explain her situation rather well and may even garner sympathy.

"I mean no offense to your planet, but there is something wrong with you humans. You are the only human I have met so far that seems passably normal. When I conducted a scan for alien tech, I found a cognitive dampening signal being broadcasted into your kind. This chip technology that you humans have developed has made your society deteriorate. Whomever broadcasted this signal has been detaining any alien life forms nearby so that they cannot warn you. Out into the Andromeda Galaxy and beyond, the rest of humanity has progressed while you have devolved. Someone is targeting the humans here. My detection will prove harmful to me." The Soldier paused, taking a breath.

The woman looked at her, incredulous. "That can't be true! You're lying! You've damaged my bots and trespassed. You expect me to believe you when you say that my species is under attack from someone _other than you?_ "

The Soldier felt her irritation rise. "Are you stupid? Have you not noticed anything wrong with the rest of your kind? I have been here a month, and the problems are already glaringly clear. You have been here for the span of your life, and you have not noticed a thing? Or are you one of those _simple_ humans who cannot detect problems because you are so immersed in the trivialities of your banal life, that you accept everything around you as the norm or what others tell you is normal?"

The woman looked insulted at the blatant condescension. The Soldier continued, not giving her a chance to respond. "I did not think you simple. Something must have stopped you from following the fad that other humans had of getting _mind controlled._ It is obvious. If you put an open broadcast chip into your brain, you are opening yourself up to manipulation by the controller at the end of the signal. Has this not occurred to any in your species?"

"I-I-" The woman looked conflicted, unsure whether to take the words as a compliment or an insult.

"Human, I do not wish you harm. I do not even intend to interfere in these events. This is your planet, not mine. But I must still act for my self-preservation. I cannot be detected by whoever has been blocking all other aliens from this planet. For damaging your bot, I will render any service you desire, or repay you in money. All I ask is that you leave me in peace, and not speak of me to anyone else."

"But-but if what you say is true, we have to do something!" The woman cried as realization dawned.

"No, _you_ need to do something about it. I have outlined the problem; now go find your solution. I _will_ not interfere." The Soldier repeated firmly.

"But please!" The woman begged. "I saw you with the bot! You were so fast and strong, you could help. And you seem extremely intelligent too! We have to do something! Together! How can I do all of this alone? I don't even know another person who doesn't have a chip implanted! It's just me that has to help the rest of humanity! My own husband has a chip. My husband! Oh my god, what am I going to do?" The woman was quickly becoming hysterical.

The Soldier sighed. She did not want to get involved. She would _not_ get involved. But perhaps she could give assistance and ideas, and in exchange, she could build her own transmitter. It could be a business proposition. And she didn't want to continue living in squalor. She could probably build her own dwelling, with protections against any danger.

"Calm down." The Soldier said. When the woman started shaking and sobbing, the Soldier grabbed a hold of her and shook her. It made no difference.

"Help me. Save me. Help us. Save us. Help me, please. Help us. Save us. _Please._ " She begged continuously, almost incoherently. The Soldier lightly slapped her, shocking her into silence.

"Listen. I will remove the chip from your partner as compensation for the bot. Is that agreeable?" The Soldier asked calmly, hoping this would restore the human's composure to a degree.

"Yes, god yes! Please. Thank you! Thank you so much." The woman cried in hysterical relief.

"Pull yourself together. There is more to discuss." The woman seemed shocked before she seemed to draw into herself and take a deep breath.

"Look at me, pleading a complete stranger to save me after yelling at you for trespassing. What is your name?" The woman asked gently. "I am Leila Black."

The Soldier gazed at her, wondering what name to give. Her title, The Soldier, would either cast doubt on her or give false hope of her involvement against the human oppression. Maybe Alpha Plebian? But she hated the word plebian. Mind made up, the Soldier answered, "You may call me Alpha."

"Excuse me?" the human retorted in shock, before scoffing at the arrogance of the name.

"I am named Alpha." The Soldier repeated. "It was the name designated to me by my school."

"Oh." The woman replied, subdued after recognizing her own rudeness. Then she giggled, "You know, in a weird way, your name actually suits you. This whole persona that you have. Red Alpha! That would suit you more, what with your red riding hood cape and all."

The Soldier was offended. "What is wrong with my cape?" The Soldier paused before protesting. "It is really comfortable, and protects me from the cold!"

The woman stared dazedly at the Soldier, and the Soldier stared back, confused, before peals of laughter rung through the beach. The Soldier was bewildered, but strange warmth suffused her. It had been so long since she had interacted with someone and inciting laughter seemed to melt the cold that had frozen her insides.

The woman continued to laugh, passing into hysteria, and the Soldier grew concerned. She did not think she had been that funny. But the Soldier realized then, that the stress of the situation seemed to be coming out as laughter. Well, better this than uncontrollable weeping.

The Soldier waited for her to settle before she spoke. "I will help your husband. But I cannot interfere in your planet's issues."

"I'll make it worth your while. Name your price." Leila stated, staring at the Soldier calculatingly. "I can provide you with everything you need, basic technology, equipment and shelter. You can't tell me you're fine living in a cave. So please, help me. Help me remove these chips."

"I will not interfere in your planet's issues." The Soldier sighed before continuing, "But I can guide you. I can teach you what you need to know. I will also disable the chips of any human that comes along. But my existence must remain an absolute secret. I am willing to work with you, and _only_ you. Not even your husband. Also apart from a home, I will also need a separate area for treating the chipped humans. I can list out everything I need. But you need to understand I cannot act directly in your battle. You are human, and this is your battle. I will only provide _assistance._ Are we clear?"

Leila listened intently before nodding. " I guess this is better than you refusing to help at all. We can sort out your demands as soon as I get back."

"Good. Then first, you need to alter the course of your bots so that they patrol only the border of this estate. Also I need you to bring Surgical Implements A, B and C, any other category implements that you find, so we can treat your husband. Also I need some sort of receiver so that I can pick up surrounding broadcasts, preferably one without any mind attachments." The Soldier demanded.

"Oh I have one like that, called the Arc Receiver. I made it." Leila grinned with pride. "I'll get the other stuff; just give me a few hours."

The Soldier nodded. "When you are done, come back to the outcropping. I will be resting there. "

Leila got up, feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibility and purpose. She rushed back, her head buzzing with all the things she would do now and in the future.

The Soldier watched Leila leave, and approached the broken bot on the ground. She could perhaps harvest the remains for spare parts and use it. Despite herself, she felt the purpose that had driven her battle days return, and the nagging in her Senses eased. Her proactive behavior had _helped_ time. Well she still hadn't broken the Gallifreyan rules of non-interference yet.

The Soldier needed to find a way to disguise her biology and species so that she could interact with the other humans. Maybe she would find the equipment to build Bio-Dampening Chameleon device.

Only time would tell.

o0o

It was 199,998 AD.

It had been 59 years since the Soldier had landed on Earth, and despite her best efforts at not getting involved, she found herself working as the Resistance's Engineer. The secret brain behind it all. She owed that much to Leila.

At first, Leila and the Soldier had shared a professional relationship, but as the Resistance grew, so did their friendship. Leila had been the only human that the Soldier interacted with until she had gathered enough technology to build a perception filter and a Bio-Chameleon device. She'd placed the Chameleon in a pendant on her necklace. She had programmed her Chameleon to depict human to any device that scanned her. She hadn't yet acquired the technology to create a true Chameleon for herself, much like the Chameleon Circuit worked for the TARDIS.

Their moment of true friendship had been when Leila had upgraded her Arc Receiver into an ElectroMagnetic Scanner that scanned both living and non-living devices and identified its constituents. She had gifted then the EMS as a Christmas present to the Soldier.

The Soldier loved her too. It wasn't a romantic love. It was love that grew out of true friendship, and the Soldier knew she would do anything for her. When Leila had grown old, and her family had left her, the Soldier took her in. Until then no human had stepped inside the Soldier's home. Their friendship had only grown stronger. And one night, the Soldier found herself telling Leila exactly what she was. A Time Lord. Leila had been disbelieving at first, unable to believe she was a creature of legend. But when the alien had started talking of her home, her childhood and her punishment; she had been struck with crushing sympathy for her friend. When Leila had felt death approaching, she had been troubled that her friend would be all alone.

So the last words that Leila spoke to the Soldier was, "I worry about you. Don't be scared to share yourself Red, you are absolutely wonderful. Find someone, anyone. Just please don't be alone. I really don't want you to be alone."

The crippling despair at her death felt familiar, yet the Soldier did not want to taint the memory of Leila by falling back into the old depression. Leila had been kin. Kin of the soul. The best friend she'd ever had who had healed her and taught her to live. In memory of her, she fashioned the red cape into a red coat, and left her hood intact. Red Alpha. She was the Red Alpha now.

No one would ever replace Leila. They had been one of a kind.

Leila had passed away ten years ago, and the gap in power left behind had nearly ripped the organization apart. The Soldier had hesitantly stepped into an active role then. She gathered intelligence and provided technology to the agents. She worked in coordination with the Leader and managed to insert an agent into Satellite Five. The Resistance was succeeding.

o0o

The Soldier was out buying parts, when she suddenly scented the strong odor of decaying bodies. There was neither a funeral home here nor a garbage pit. Pulling out her EMS, she scanned the local surroundings and discovered a high level electric field that killed any organism that came into contact with it.

Curious and her Senses acting up, she pondered whether she should disable the field and attract attention or, as the humans put it, go ninja. Finding common sense in the latter option, she integrated herself into the field, and put on the perception filter bracelet that was in her pocket.

She passed through the electric field and came across a barren land filled with human bodies with a large building up ahead. She moved quickly and silently through the bodies to avoid exposure. Her naturally low body temperature served as an advantage in avoiding heat sensor detection.

She overrode the entrance codes, and slipped in, moving into the lower basement levels of the building.

" _ **COMBINING OF HUMAN AND DALEK DNA COMMENCING."**_

" _ **DALEK DNA INSUFFICIENT. NEED MORE DALEK DNA. EXTRAPOLATE DALEK DNA. EXTRAPOLATE. EXTRAPOLATE!"**_

The Soldier froze, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. Dalek? Dalek DNA? Why were there Daleks here? They were all currently fighting in the Time War. Why were there Daleks _here_?!

Suddenly everything made sense. Why there was such an overwhelming body count of humans, why humans had been suppressed for so long. After all these years, if there was one thing that the Soldier could admit, it was that humans were extremely curious and tenacious. Only the merciless hateful Daleks with their advanced technology would be able to keep humans compliant for so long. The Daleks were why every Time Sense of hers had been erratic the entire time. They had deserted the Time War, the cowards, and were surely looking for a way to rebuild an army to return to the fight. They were carelessly changing timelines without any Time Perception.

The Soldier jumped and activated her suction cups to attach herself to the ceiling. She watched as three Daleks rolled past, and the sight of them woke a long buried hatred. The Daleks were the reason for the Time War. They had reduced her planet to a near unrecognizable state, and the root cause of everything bad happening on Gallifrey at the moment.

Revenge. She would have her revenge.

* * *

 **AN: The Doctor makes his first appearance in the next chapter. For those who didn't catch on, the Soldier does not know what happened to Gallifrey. She is under the impression that the War is still going on. Remember, she's been banished, isolated and depressed. She's only ever talked to a few humans, so it's never come up.**

 **Please do leave reviews. Let me know what you think! Feel free to tell me if anything is unclear though some of it is deliberate.**


	4. The Game Station

**AN: I will be making minor plot changes from canon, after all it is fanfiction. But all major plotlines will remain unchanged.**

 **Warning: There will be graphic violence and death. War is not pretty. This is not a light warning.**

The Game Station

It was 200100 AD.

More than a century had passed since the Soldier had discovered that Daleks had been responsible for the inconsistencies in the timeline.

When the Soldier had first discovered the Dalek building, she had destroyed the creatures after disconnecting them from the Dalek hive mind. She had vented her rage by pulling out the Dalek flesh from their shells and electrocuting them to death. The rush and pleasure she'd obtained had vanished when she had hacked into the Dalek database and discovered the true reaches of their empire.

She'd been crushed at the time. She was just one Time Lord. Her entire species was struggling to fight the Dalek race and she was _just one Time Lord_ with _primitive technology_. What could she do? There was no such thing as non-interference now. This was Time Lord Business, especially if the Daleks intended to return to the Time War.

She needed a plan. She couldn't afford any more distractions from the humans. She needed to save Gallifrey. She needed to obliterate the Daleks.

She had plundered all the Dalek technology she could find and isolated herself in her home, building what she would need to fight the Daleks. Destroying them using their own technology. There was poetic justice in that.

It was when Satellite Five had suddenly shut down, and all hypnotic transmissions stopped, that she had halted to celebrate with the humans. She had not been able to avoid helping, so she removed the chips from the humans.

It was the humans that had inspired the idea of creating a Delta Wave transmitter. It had occurred when the Leader of the Resistance had come looking for her, inquiring after her long absence. It seemed Satellite Five had been converted into a Game Station, and they were transmatting innocent people into vindictive games. The main purpose of it was to slaughter anyone teleporting into the base station. The Leader had begged her assistance but the Soldier had refused. It was only a decade later when the Leader himself had been transmatted in that she had realized that she should have helped. The Daleks might have been creating an army to attack Gallifrey, but they were slaughtering humans for sport. The Delta Wave had been the only recourse left.

The Resistance had fallen. Despite the Soldier's best efforts in protecting its members, nearly all of them had been slaughtered in the Game Station. Left with no other option, she'd housed the remaining three members in her own home, where she'd manipulated a field around her house to protect them from the transmat.

It had taken her _twenty_ years to create a containment device that would isolate the Dalek DNA from the human DNA. The samples of Dalek tissue she acquired were so completely immersed with human DNA; she feared that the Delta Wave would kill both humans and Daleks if used. It had been the obligation she still felt to Leila that compelled her to try so hard to protect the humans and separate their DNA from the Dalek tissue.

One among the humans, Beatrice, had managed to hack into the database and was appalled to find that the Controller _was_ human. The horror of this atrocity spurred Beatrice and the two others to launch an impromptu rescue mission that failed so miserably, that all teleports out of the Game Station were negated. The three humans had been brutally beheaded as an example.

The Soldier swore retribution. The Daleks would die. All of them. And she was going to get pleasure from each one she killed.

o0o

The Soldier was in her lab, trying to adjust one of her weapons. It was a volt gun that could disable multiple Daleks at once by passing high voltage through the eye-stalk and disable their hive mind system. She completed the adjustment, making it so that it could leech power from any surrounding sources for emergency recharge. As she stood to place it in her armory, she felt the entire ground quake ferociously. Bewildered, the Soldier hacked into the surveillance systems and watched as Daleks launched a full frontal invasion on the planet, massacring the humans and razing countless buildings into the ground.

The Soldier felt a strong empathy for the humans. It was like watching a rerun of the first attack on Gallifrey, but unlike then, when the Time Lords had swiftly retaliated, the humans were panicking and dropping dead like flies.

If she couldn't fight for Gallifrey directly then fighting the Daleks on Earth would have to suffice. In the end, it was all for Gallifrey.

Decided, she loaded all her weapons, and hid them in her pockets. Entering Game Station wasn't a problem, it had never been one. But there was no safe exit. She picked up the teleporter she'd made after Beatrice had been killed.

This would have to do, but she didn't know what coordinates to put into the teleporter. Nowhere was safe. She shook her head. This was a problem she could face when she needed to escape. She could always return here.

The Soldier exited and ran through the crowd of humans towards a teleport center. It was filled with people hoping to escape the destruction. Frustrated at the humans, she maneuvered to the front. Suddenly a group of Daleks flew towards the building.

" _ **HUMANS DETECTED! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"**_

The humans screamed and a stampede started. Envisioning the impending disaster, the Soldier took out her volt gun, and electrocuted the Daleks.

The screaming of the Daleks gave the Soldier great gratification. Getting bored quickly, she opened the encasing sealing the Dalek flesh inside by magnetizing it. She opened all of them at once and watched as the single eye of all those Daleks turned to her. Pulling out a knife from her pocket, she cut off their eyes, and then hacked them to pieces. She knew the hive mind probably realized that someone was attacking, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

The release she felt was freeing. She had served justice to all those humans she'd failed, more importantly all the Time Lords who had died in battle against them. She felt a hole inside her growing. No. It wasn't a hole. A gnawing emptiness was spreading, and she liked it. It gave her the best outlook on killing these worthless beings. It made it rather enjoyable.

The Soldier drew away from the dead Daleks and turned around to face a crowd of humans staring in awe at her. Using the attention, she shouted, "I am the Soldier! I am a part of the Resistance fighting against these abominable creatures. If you want to stay safe, stay away from the teleports! These creatures, Daleks, are fully capable of manipulating teleports and you could end up in their mothership. If you want to be safe, retreat into your homes and lock yourself in, or better, if you know any underground bunkers, hide there. Help each other and hide out!" The crowd remained unmoved, still staring. "MOVE!" the Soldier commanded.

That spurred them on, and the Soldier jumped onto a window sill to watch them leave before entering the teleport center.

The Soldier teleported into the ground floor and hid behind a pillar, donning her perception filter. She heard a man screaming in fear before his voice was cut off abruptly.

" _ **GROUND FLOOR CLEAR. ALL HUMANS EXTERMINATED."**_

" _ **COMMENCE FLOOR BY FLOOR SEARCH FOR ANY SPARE HUMANS. SEND A SQUADRON TO FLOOR 500 TO DEAL WITH THE ONCOMING STORM."**_

" _ **AFFIRMATIVE."**_

The Soldier glanced out and surveyed her surroundings. Countless human bodies littered the floor; the employees of Game Station. She felt momentary sympathy for the humans but then remembered that they had slaughtered their own kind with little remorse. No compassion needed to be spared for these traitors.

There were 500 floors on this station with the broadcast center at top. But why were the Daleks sending a squadron to deal with a weather problem? Regardless, she needed to get up undetected and buy time to build the Delta Transmitter.

Jumping up, the Soldier suctioned onto the ceiling and scaled quickly, heading towards the lifts. She needed to stall them but how? Maybe a Volt field? It would zap any metallic form and was easy to set up. Unfortunately it wouldn't take the Daleks more than five minutes to disable them. Maybe set up multiple fields along the way like an obstacle course?

Decided, the Soldier set up the field next to the ground floor stairs, and outside the lift. She turned to the lift, and realized that it was disabled. Repairing it quickly, she tried to hit the top floor, but it seemed as if someone had disabled access to the top six floors. Groaning in frustration, the Soldier headed to Floor 494 before turning to run up the staircase.

She froze in shock, seeing three humans blocking the path to the staircase. She dodged the accidental fire by man dressed in a formal suit and cried out,"Stop! Do not fire!"

Another man, wearing a white shirt and suspenders stepped forward, arming his gun.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" The man asked threateningly.

"I am Red- the Soldier from the Resistance. Earth is under attack by Dalek ships, and we devised a way to stop them. I need to reach floor 500." She quickly explained.

"The Red Soldier? What is your name? And where is everyone else?" The man demanded and she noted that he had still not lowered his gun.

"We do not give out our names easily. It is dangerous." The Soldier did not bother correcting the man. "Who are you? Have you created a strategy to destroy these Daleks?"

"Captain Jack Harkness at your service. But _you_ can call me Jack _._ " Jack flirted, giving the Soldier a cheesy smile. His gun lowered.

"Enough." The Soldier snapped, her hood falling back. "Tell me your plans. And if you have none, let me implement mine. I do not have much time before the Daleks come up. The most I have is ten minutes."

"The Doctor is upstairs, building a Delta Wave transmitter to kill the Daleks. We're here trying to buy time for him to finish." Jack quickly informed her as he scanned the perimeter for any Daleks.

A doctor? A medicinal man building the Delta Wave? But then, humans called accomplished academics Doctor or Professor, and maybe referring to him so singularly meant she should have heard of him.

"Good. That is _very_ good." The Soldier felt relief flood her. "I have tools that can help. Let me go up."

Jack nodded and moved aside. "I'll tell him you are coming."

The Soldier sprinted upstairs, feeling hope that she would succeed. As she reached the top, she heard a Dalek voice booming throughout the floor.

" _ **I AM THE EMPEROR OF DALEKS! I AM A GOD! YOU CANNOT KILL ME!"**_

The Emperor of Daleks? The Emperor was here? The Soldier felt terror crawl her spine, and she shook, unable to control the visceral fear at the situation.

No, she could do it. The Delta Wave could do it. She just had to gather herself together.

Snapping out of her stupor, she heard the Emperor speak again. She rushed forwards to the origin of the sound.

" _ **TELL ME DOCTOR! WHAT ARE YOU, COWARD OR KILLER?"**_

" _ **HAHAHA! DOCTOR, YOUR COWARDICE WILL BE THE REASON THAT HUMANS GET SLAUGHTERED!"**_

The Soldier entered the room, and saw a man with close cropped hair in a black leather jacket. He stared in desolation at the screen.

"You! Are you the doctor?" The Soldier demanded. The man turned slowly towards her and nodded. The Solider caught sight of worn blue eyes.

" _Why_ have you not enabled the Delta-" The Soldier cut off, noticing the Doctor had built a raw Delta Wave transmitter. A transmitter that did not even distinguish between human and Dalek DNA.

"You _fool!_ Were you intending to kill everyone facing this side of the station?" Her voice shook with cold rage.

The Doctor snapped back at her in equal fury. "And what will you be able to do? Go on. Tell me. We only have a few precious minutes. Have you got anything better? A miracle? If not, then _shut up!_ I already said I wasn't going to use it! Who _are you_ anyways?"

Without waiting for a reply, he took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her. He frowned at the results.

"Human, but not absolutely. Are you wearing a Shimmer?" The Doctor demanded, frowning in suspicion.

The Soldier could hear blatant curiosity laced beneath his words. How dare he? Of all times to be distracted, of all the trivialities to be preoccupied with, he had picked up on a human shimmer? The fool.

"Scan me again, and I will break your sonic probe. Clear?" The Soldier glared with contempt. "I can adjust the Delta Wave transmitter to target only Dalek DNA. But I need help. We have barely five minutes before the Daleks reach up here, and even together the work will take at least take ten minutes."

"Hey! It's a sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor snapped. Then his face broke out into a huge smile stretching from ear to ear. "Haha! We did it! You did it! We can do this! So long Emperor!" The Doctor yelled in joy and relief, before rushing to the Soldier and hugging her.

"Get off!" The Soldier pushed him away harshly. Something about this man was nagging at her Time Senses and with the stress of the situation added, she found his mercurial moods vexing.

"Come on." She demanded. The both of them went to the raw transmitter. "Disconnect the inbuilt capacitors, I already have it on my DNA Isolator. I will interface my Isolator to the transmitter. Work quickly, and when you are done I need you to strip wires." The Doctor looked affronted about something, before quickly nodding.

She scanned the transmitter with her EMS to ascertain limitations when she noticed the Doctor eyeing her device. "And what is that? I haven't come across anything like it."

"It is a scanner." The Soldier said shortly. "Do you have something that can magnify the speed of processing?" The Doctor nodded, fiddling with the switches on the sonic. He pointed the screwdriver forward, and the Soldier abruptly grabbed it. The Doctor frowned, irritated that someone other than him was using it, but dismissed it.

"So." The Doctor drawled, "Jack mentioned something about the Resistance. Who are you lot?"

"The name explains everything."

"And how did you obtain the technology to separate the DNA?" The Doctor questioned, growing irritated at her recalcitrance. "You never answered who you were either. Come on, tell me. If this fails, we'll be dying together. I should at least know the name of the person I'll die with."

The Soldier considered him for a moment before recommencing her work. "Call me the Soldier. It is what I am." She noticed him pause before resuming his work. She continued, "The DNA separation took nearly twenty years. And despite your accusations, you are yet to tell me your own name."

The Doctor looked at her confused. "What? I am the Doctor."

"Just the Doctor?" He nodded. "And how are you so familiar with Daleks?" She inquired and scanned his face as it suddenly seemed to close off.

"I've dealt with them many times." The Doctor mimicked her vagueness. "You know, a human developing this technology, it is brilliant! You're fantastic!" The Doctor grinned, abruptly changing the subject.

The Soldier measured him carefully and then dismissed him. His opinion meant nothing. "Stop your chattering and focus." She ordered. His curiosity and energy was tiring.

The Emperor returned to the screen. _**"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO? YOU HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THAT YOU CANNOT DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, DOCTOR. YOU HAVE ONLY MINUTES BEFORE MY DALEKS EXTERMINATE YOU."**_

"Aha! That's what you think!" The Doctor replied provokingly, "We have found a way to isolate to attack only Dalek DNA with the Delta Wave! I win! My race wins, Emperor! And you thought you could win against _me?_ "

The Soldier worked quickly, trying to ignore the bantering occurring in the background.

" _ **EVEN IF YOU GET THE MACHINE TO WORK, YOU THINK THAT DEVICE WILL WORK AGAINST ME? THE DALEK EMPEROR? THE GOD THAT ESCAPED THE FIRES OF THE TIME WAR? WHEN THAT COULD NOT KILL ME, YOU THINK A DELTA WAVE WILL KILL ME? FOOLISH DOCTOR!"**_

Something in the Soldier snapped at those words. "God?!" The Soldier scoffed. "You are nothing but an abomination that was lucky to survive the Time War. You are nothing but a coward for running away!" The Soldier lashed out bitterly. "For the horrors that you have committed on _my people,_ Emperor, you better hope that you die when we release the Delta Wave. Because if you _survive,_ I will personally find your ship, and- what is that word you Daleks love?- _exterminate_ you. No." She paused and then continued menacingly, "I will prolong your misery. Burn you until you scream for mercy, and then chop you to little pieces. I _dare_ you Emperor, deign me with your presence. "

The Doctor turned to her in shock but before he could say anything, the Emperor turned his sickening eye to her and finally addressed her.

" _ **USELESS HUMAN. DO YOU THINK YOUR RACE POSES ANY THREAT TO EVEN THE WEAKEST DALEK? I SURVIVED THE TIME WAR. GALLIFREY EXPLODED, AND I STILL SURVIVED! YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME? ALL TIME LORDS ARE DEAD BUT ONE! BUT AN ENTIRE FLEET OF DALEKS AWAITS YOU. TELL ME, DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO WIN? NOW FACE MY PROGENY!"**_

The Soldier was immobile. Gallifrey exploded? The Time War was over? And how did they know she had survived? All Time Lords were dead. _They were dead._ She was truly alone. The last of her kind.

The Soldier couldn't function. She couldn't breathe. There was a suffocating pressure inside her that was killing her. _Killing her._ The gnawing agony robbed her voice and paralyzed her. She didn't want to live. What was the point? She had failed in protecting Gallifrey. _Failed_.

The Doctor approached her, sonicing the transmission off. "Hello? Are you alright? Hello?" He waved his hand in front of her face worriedly. "Snap out of it please! Have you finished integrating it? Have you?" He shook her roughly, hoping for a response but failed.

" _ **EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANION! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"**_ The Daleks had reached the top floor.

The sound of the Daleks echoed vaguely throughout the Soldier's mind. A growing bloodthirstiness responded. Black rage filled her and froze her insides. It was numbing to her desolate despairing soul.

The Soldier stood. Something in her gaze made the Doctor retreat. She advanced towards the Daleks and fired her volt gun. It wouldn't be enough. Nothing would ever be enough.

She withdrew numerous other weapons, and fired them mercilessly at Daleks. She dodged Dalek fire quickly, but a stray shot hit the wall she was next to, and the large panel broke free, crushing her.

"No!" The Doctor cried, rushing towards her. The Soldier turned to him with dimming consciousness, "The Delta Wave is unfinished. You must complete it. Just attach the green wire to the Isolator. That is enough. Do it. Destroy them."

The Soldier felt darkness envelop her. As she faded away, she heard the sound of wheezing brakes.

 **AN: So the Soldier finally knows about Gallifrey! The Doctor and her haven't realized that they are Time Lords yet. The Soldier has a fractured mind and has been wiped from the Time Lord telepathic 'hive' if you will. He can't detect her and neither her him.**

 **Also please remember, the Doctor will not become central to the plot until much later. He will be making appearances, especially since he's where trouble is.**

 **So Rose has arrived. Stay tuned for more!**

 **Review please!**


	5. Shadow Proclamation

**AN: I know that in the comics Judoon got replaced by Ogrons as the police force, but I will be ignoring that. The Judoon will continue to remain the primary police force.**

 **Also there will be minor plot changes.**

 **I do not own Doctor Who, obviously.**

* * *

Shadow Proclamation 

The Soldier woke slowly, feeling pulsing pain overpower her senses. She couldn't recall why she was on the floor…. something about a wall falling… Daleks! She bolted awake, pushing past the ache and trying to take stock of the situation. There was no one. No Daleks, no overactive physician and certainly no Emperor on the screen. She felt as if she was missing something important, so vital that the rest was trivial.

She couldn't afford to lie around. If the Doctor hadn't succeeded in initiating the Delta then she would have to do it.

The Soldier stood precariously, stumbling forward as she walked. She was stunned to see a large pile of dust everywhere in the room, as if someone had fired a large disintegration beam. Were these the remains of Daleks? There was certainly too much dust for a handful of humans.

Unsettled at the mystery, she moved towards the Delta Wave to find that it was dismantled, and the Isolator untouched, just as she'd left it before. None of this made sense. If they didn't use the Delta Wave then how had all the Daleks died? Or were they still alive?

The Soldier heard someone running towards the room, and stood battle ready. She wasn't in any condition to fight, especially since she could feel the symptoms of concussion, but everything felt too off. As if she'd just missed some great event. Oh. The nagging of her Senses had stopped.

Jack bolted into the room, and swivelled around, looking for someone. "Is he here? Where is the Doctor?" He asked urgently.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know. What happened to the Daleks?" She questioned.

"I don't know. Weren't you guys the ones to kill them off?" Jack retorted, confused. "I passed out I think. I was pretty sure I'd died. Got lucky I think." Jack grinned, winking at her. Something about this man was suddenly off putting. It was like he was…Why was he suddenly a fixed point in time? How could a human become a fixed point in time? Was her concussion making her senses erratic?

"The Doctor must have pulled one of his impossible saves. Who would have thought? And against the Dalek Emperor himself. Ha!" Jack beamed, but it dimmed a little. "He must have thought I was dead. Oh well, I can find him." He murmured to himself before turning to face her. "Will you be okay? Anything I can do to help before I leave?"

"No, but how do you intend to escape?" The Soldier queried.

"Like this." Jack put his arm forward and quickly input something onto his vortex manipulator, and before the Soldier could reach him, intending to pry it out of his wrist, he disappeared in a bright flash of light.

Vortex Manipulator. The man had had a vortex manipulator and she'd been too _thick_ to notice! She'd lost the only time travel device she'd found on this planet. Time Travel. Time War. The last of the Time Lords.

Suddenly everything came crashing down upon the Soldier, and unable to handle the blow, she fell out of consciousness again.

o0o

When the Soldier awakened, she remembered everything. The pain, the grief and loneliness were incapacitating. She wanted to take back every bad thought she'd had of Gallifrey. Even of the destructive Time Lords. She would do anything to have them back, even if it threatened the universe. Because at least they'd still be alive. The stupid Final Sanction could have been cancelled, because as long as there were Time Lords existing, they could have been reasoned with or at worst, foiled. There was no reason for her planet to have been destroyed. It wasn't like the Time War had come out of nothing. Her race had not gone around provoking other races. They had tried to maintain a balance in the world because they understood the workings of Time, and to some extent, the Universe. And now, her planet, her heritage, her _family_ , was gone and there was nothing left. No one. What was a Soldier with nothing to protect? Nothing. Useless.

What did she have to live for? She had loved being a Time Lord, despite its flaws but which race didn't have them? She didn't want to continue living. What would be the point? Sure, she'd had a few novel experiences with humans, but the end game had always been returning home. So what if she had been banished? As if they would remember somebody as insignificant as her after a few centuries. She'd been so sure of these thoughts, confidently making her plans of returning home. And now there was nothing left for her. Even if she ran around the universe, she could never let anyone know what she was. She wouldn't be able to escape the dangers of being the last living Time Lord. The prospect of facing the universe had never been so bleak. Death was the answer.

The thought was strangely relieving. The pain eased a little.

 _If there was ever any true God, then please hear my prayer. Let me join my family in death. Please. Please._

Unconsciousness claimed her again.

o0o

The Soldier jolted awake at the sound of a closing door. The Soldier felt disappointment crush her at the realization that she hadn't died. The light in the room let her see she was in an infirmary. She couldn't recall anyone giving her aid, and she silently cursed the one who had saved her.

She surveyed her surroundings and found a tall elegant woman standing by her bedside, dressed in a deep navy blue gown. The woman had the look of natural authority about her, and something about her was vaguely familiar, as if seen in a book or in multimedia. Unfortunately her Senses tingled as well, and it felt as if some loop in time had completed itself. Perturbed at having the woman stare relentlessly at her, she sighed, finally giving in to the silent command to speak.

"Who are you? And what am I doing here?" She asked dully.

The woman gazed at her intensely as if verifying something, before speaking. "I am the Shadow Architect, Leader of the Shadow Proclamation. You were found on Satellite Five **,** barely alive by the Judoon."

"How did you know I was on Satellite Five? There was no one alive on that ship when I lost consciousness **,** " The Soldier asked her suspiciously.

"You gave me coordinates to come find you," Shadow Architect replied, "And just to save you the trouble, I already know what you are."

"What?" The Soldier was confused, but did not have the energy nor will to be polite or think. "Explain, now."

"This would have been harder to explain if you hadn't been a Time Lord. And as it is, even if I hadn't already known, the medical scanners would have given you away. You do know that your Chameleon circuit doesn't hold up against a thorough analysis, don't you? Anyways, your trinkets are locked up and safe until you recover. Secondly, I have a job offer for you. Needless to say that for me, we've been working together for years, but since this is your first meeting, time can be rewritten."

"Job offer." The question came out as a statement in her detached disbelief. The Soldier's emotions had become dead again. None of this was important. Irrelevant to her ultimate aim.

"The Shadow Proclamation, as you well know, is responsible for upholding Galactic Law. We already have a police force, the Judoon. However, there are some criminals that use Time to escape from us. Before you came into the picture, we had no alternative but to let them escape especially since we couldn't account for all the factors when interacting with timelines. But they do need to be apprehended, especially since nearly all of them are extremely dangerous. If you join us, you will be helping us catch them. But you must understand, this must remain a secret. Only between you and me. It would be better for all parties involved if we didn't tell people that we had a secret Time Travelling Agent. Your cover will be liaison of the Judoon. You'll be working with them in all time periods in any case. So what do you think?" She watched the Soldier contemplatively.

"Need time." The Soldier didn't bother to specify anything. If the Shadow Architect really needed her, she'd come back.

"Of course. Take your time. Give me your answer when you've recovered." The Shadow Architect gave her a small smile then left quickly.

The Soldier closed her eyes and retreated into her mind. She wanted to die. But the universe seemed to be stopping her from following through. She couldn't die now without creating a paradox, or at least until she sent the message to save herself. Devastation broke through the numbness again. There was no reprieve. What was she to do? The pain of being the last sat in the hearts like nothing else. It was a pulsing pain that was _physical_ , and she felt like her hearts were being crushed. Tears finally started falling from her eyes, and they flowed like a river, unable to stop. The agony was so intense that she couldn't even cry out. There was nobody who would listen. She had no one. No one.

The Soldier sobbed quietly all day and into the night. When her tears stopped, she gazed lifelessly at the white wall above her. The pain was constant, and the Soldier doubted it would ever go away, but in a warped way she appreciated the pain. She needed to be in mourning, because who else would mourn Gallifrey? As a failed soldier, she owed her planet at least this much. She deserved it. Self-loathing filled her entire being. She didn't deserve the gift, the relief of a quick death. She deserved perpetual agony, She had been banished, but she should have just returned and continued to fight in the War. But she had been too _lazy_ , too much of a coward. She could have at least taken her family with her on her exile. There had been a War going on, she should not have left her family behind. But she'd been so stupid! So self-involved. No, she definitely didn't deserve the privilege of death.

When the Architect returned, the Soldier was decided. She needed to live, and being an Agent of the Shadow Proclamation would be suitable especially since she would be performing the duty of the Time Lords before the War. And if she died while serving them, then she would consider herself lucky.

"I will take the job offer. I should be clear and state that I have nothing. I need a complete arsenal of weapons stored in a miniaturized box." The Soldier stated listlessly.

"Very well, I will provide you with these weapons. However there is a condition. You will need to go to the year Pear.65. I first met you then, and our interactions since have been linear. Alright?"

The Soldier nodded. "I will acquire a Vortex Manipulator for you and assemble your things." The Shadow Architect smiled. "Goodbye then Soldier. It was an honor."

o0o

The Soldier stood on the viewing deck of the Triasteroid, the headquarters of the Shadow Proclamation, watching the Judoon return from a failed attempt at locating a Plasmavore that had murdered some princess of some nation.

It had been fifty years since she'd time travelled back and joined the Shadow Proclamation. The Shadow Architect, who had insisted that the Soldier call her Kellyn, had been ecstatic when the Soldier had explained the offer. The Shadow Architect had only been too eager to send her out on missions, and soon she was too busy to be thinking about the Time Lords. The Soldier had appreciated the relief. When there were no Time cases pending, she further offered her services for catching particularly dangerous criminals. Over the decades, she had lost count of how many she had killed, especially since sometimes she'd been sent to punish millions in a civilization. It didn't make any difference to the Soldier. At first, she had been numb from her misery, but after the first time she wiped out ten thousand Sontarans for using a level 6 planet for cloning, she realized that she just did not care. It wasn't even that she felt they had deserved what they had gotten. It was apathy. The Soldier found that her indifference helped her do her job more efficiently. She completed her missions quickly and logically, often disregarding the moral ramifications of her actions. But she was making a difference. She felt _usefu_ l. She found that she _liked_ her job despite the darker shades it possessed.

"Soldier!" Kellyn called out, approaching the viewing deck. The Soldier turned to her. "Pull your hood down! Why is that _always_ up?" Kellyn asked, irritated. "It's hard to see your face when you do that."

"That is the point." The Soldier retorted, turning away from her.

"You're an idiot." Kellyn sighed. "You need to head out with the Judoon this time. They're having a difficult time with the Plasmavore, so you'll be in charge of this mission."

The Soldier nodded before retreating.

o0o

The Soldier stood in the main console room discussing strategies with the Judoon captain. They had tracked down the location of the Plasmavore to planet Earth in a hospital. The Judoon insisted on holding the hospital guilty for harboring a fugitive, but the Soldier knew that this primitive Earth had yet to accept that alien life forms existed. So she drew up a plan of using plasma cores to teleport the hospital to the Moon so that they could conduct their investigation and give the hospital the chance to cooperate with them. Unfortunately the cooperation of the Judoon ended there, and refused any other options she provided.

The Soldier sighed. She now understood why the Judoon had been unsuccessful in finding the fugitive. The Judoon were sticklers of procedure and the fugitive was smart enough to take advantage of it. If the Plasmavore was to be caught, she would need to investigate on her own.

Two days had passed since they had arrived in the Solar System and the setting up of plasma cores was finally complete. The Judoon ships landed on the moon within the force field. A thought struck the Soldier. She pulled out her EMS and scanned for the total number of life forms. 1238, including the Judoon platoon. The oxygen concentration wouldn't last more than two hours before the patients suffocated. The Soldier did not usually care, but some part of her deep down protested. This was different, these people were innocent. The Soldier shook it off, there wasn't much she could do but find the criminal as soon as possible.

The Soldier entered the hospital, heading the platoon of Judoon on the moon.

The humans ran screaming from the lobby at the sight of them. The Soldier sighed feeling a headache form. This was the problem with pre-Enlightenment species.

"Fo sho lo ko! Bij nish ko lo po!" The Soldier ordered the Judoon. The Judoon entered the lobby and stood at attention. A doctor moved towards her, holding his hands out to indicate cooperation.

"We are the citizens of planet Earth. We-" The Soldier cut him off by pushing him against a wall and grabbed a cataloguer from one of the Judoon to scan him. "No please don't hurt me. Please-" She handed the scanner back to the Judoon who integrated the language, then released the doctor.

"We are the Intergalactic police. You are harboring a fugitive on your grounds. Cooperate with us, and we will send you back to Earth, obstruct us and we will hold all of you guilty. Clear?" The Soldier gazed at him, waiting for a reply. He nodded slowly.

"But you-you look human. What-what are you doing?" He asked, confused.

"My job." She said shortly before turning to the Judoon. "You catalog the humans and inform me if you find any non-human. My scanner found at least two. The plasmavore could have accomplices." She stated before heading off.

The plasmavore was fully capable of assimilating human blood, and the Soldier intended on using that knowledge and its fear of the Judoon to trap it.

Let the games begin.

 **AN: The update took so long because ffnet spazzed out on me for some reason. To compensate, nearly daily updates will continue.**

 **Reviews are much appreciated. Remember guys, acknowledgment and feedback goes a long way in encouraging authors.**

 **So review please.**


	6. Judoon Platoon on the Moon

**AN: Thank you for all your support and reviews! Guys, if you login I'll be able to give a more personalized reply, but still I'm extremely grateful took the time to review my story.**

 **I can't make out the name of the planet that the Child Princess was from. So I'm making that up.**

The Judoon Platoon on the Moon and Other Bad Choices

The Soldier rushed to the hospital's administration center hoping that a list of patients admitted in the last few days would prove useful. As she approached she saw a man dressed in a blue suit run off with a dark skinned female doctor. Pulling out her EMS, she scanned them. Human and non-human. Before the scan could complete, the two of them disappeared up the stairs.

The Soldier debated following the two or researching the patient list. The Plasmavore was recorded to be a female, but the man could have been her accomplice. And what were the odds another alien being here was a coincidence?

The Soldier rushed up the stairs, following the two into the Chief of the Hosptial's room. Those two were crouched over the drained body of a human. They were caught red-handed.

"You are under arrest for the murder of this human. Under section 16 of the Shadow Proclamation, you are guilty of the murder of the Child Princess of Padrivole Regency 9." The Soldier drew her weapon for execution.

"No no no! I'm not the Plasmavore!" The man cried out, startled. The female doctor turned to her and pleaded, "It's not him! I know who you're looking for! It's this old lady, who calls herself Mrs. Finnigan. She-she had this straw, and she was sucking his blood!"

The Soldier held her gun steady as she replied," And where _is_ this old lady?"

"She's-she's gone. She was just here. You've got to believe me, please." The female doctor pleaded.

"We-we've met before! Hello there!" The man suddenly cried out. The Soldier turned to him frowning. She observed him, unable to recall anyone with his face. But something about him was making her Senses tingle in a rather familiar way.

"I'm not sure if you remember me. We met a long time ago, in the future! Oh maybe it hasn't happened for you yet. You're the Soldier right? Of the Resistance! I'm the Doctor! Different face. Definitely not a Plasmavore. I'm a Time Lord!" He explained hurriedly, grinning through his explanation.

"What." The Soldier felt her breath leave her. She pulled out her EMS and scanned him. Dual cardiovascular system with a respiratory bypass system. Information about his life signs continued to flow through the EMS and the Soldier found herself reading it again and again.

"You-you-how? Did you regenerate?" The Soldier asked stunned.

The Doctor tilted his head confused. "Well yes, but how did you know? So we have met then? How did you reach 2007 from 200000? Are you a Time Agent?"

The Soldier felt a heartfelt smile break out on her face, and after what she felt was an eternity, she let out a breathless relieved laugh. "Oh! You are alive! Actually alive! You survived!"

The Doctor grinned in return. "It's great to see you survived too. Sorry I left you behind like that. A companion of mine, brilliant actually, went and destroyed all the Daleks. Took in the Time Vortex and everything. She was amazing. It's what, you know, did this." He indicated his body exaggeratedly.

"Hmm." The Soldier rushed forward and hugged the Doctor unable to contain her joy that she wasn't alone anymore. "There is actually something else I wanted to know."

The Doctor looked surprised but returned her hug. "Sure-"

"Look, as heartwarming as this is, we need to find the Plasmavore! People are slowly suffocating and there's a weird vampire alien on the loose!" The female doctor interrupted, frustrated at the distracted aliens.

"Oh, oh right." The Doctor moved back from the Soldier. "Anyways, Soldier, this is Martha Jones, brilliant to-be doctor. Martha, this is the Soldier, she is-" the Doctor turned back to the Soldier, "I actually don't know much about you."

The Soldier smiled at him and he looked surprised at it. "We do not know much about _each other_ " the Soldier corrected, before turning to Martha. "I work in liaison with the Judoon if they come across any difficult cases. I am what you humans call a detective, but not really." The Soldier smiled at her too, unable to contain her joy. The Soldier felt like something that she lost had been restored. Happiness was bubbling up inside her. She was no longer alone.

"Right, so the Plasmavore, we have to find it!" The Doctor yelled out before dashing out of the room. "Wait!" Martha cried out, and she approached the dead body and closed its eyes.

"The two of you stick together. I will search for the Plasmavore separately. Do not forget, she is on the run and desperate so she might be armed." With that warning, the Soldier split up. She wanted this case solved as soon as possible so that she could spend time with the Doctor. Ask him everything, about Gallifrey, what exactly happened with the Time War, how he survived it. Maybe they could even stay together. The Soldier had no inclination of starting anything romantic but she hoped that he wouldn't mind her company, especially since she was another Time Lord. Maybe he was lonely like her and filling that loneliness with humans like Martha. The two of them could somehow make it work. The Soldier grinned, feeling happy.

The Soldier scanned the lower floors again, checking in case the Plasmavore had retreated to the lower floors. The Plasmavore should have already been categorized as human after the feeding. She should have been attempting escape. The Soldier suddenly picked up radio feed from the Judoon.

"Target acquired in the MRI room. Deceased. Case closed." Surprised, the Soldier raced up to the MRI room.

"Move." She ordered the Judoon. The captain glared at her before moving aside.

Lying on the floor was the Doctor. Feeling dread in the pit of her stomach, she pulled out her EMS and scanned him. Deceased.

"No." The Soldier whispered, shocked. He'd been drained dry. No, he could still regenerate, she just had to wait.

"You-you people did this! He-he gave his life so that you could find her! She's the Plasmavore!" Martha cried out. "I'll prove it." Martha grabbed a cataloguer and scanned the old lady. Non human.

"Confirm scan." The Judoon captain ordered. The Soldier snapped out of her stupor. She didn't need to wait for their diagnosis. The Plasmavore would pay for what it had done. The Soldier pulled out her disintegration beam and fired it at the Plasmavore.

"You will all burn with me! You-" the Plasmavore cried , before disintegrating to dust. The Soldier crouched next to the Doctor. Any moment now, he should regenerate. Any moment now. Of course he would. The Soldier folded in on herself and waited, rocking helplessly.

"She-she did something to the MRI machine. Please do something. Please. " Martha pleaded. The Judoon marched to the MRI machine and scanned it.

"Dangerous levels of magnetic resonance. Retreat. Retreat."

"No, undo this! You lot did this! Come back! Undo this or the planet will burn. This is your fault!" Martha yelled in panic, following the Judoon out. She rushed back into the room, and saw the Soldier with her hands on her head, rocking back and forth.

"Please do something. Please. He gave his life for this. Please, please save us." Martha begged, shaking her. "This is your fault! Your fault! Everyone is going to die because you came here! Undo this! Undo this please!"

The Soldier continued rocking. "You're useless!" Martha turned desperately to the Doctor, praying she wasn't too late. She started administering CPR.

The Soldier felt despair fill her. The Doctor hadn't regenerated. He was dead, and it was her fault. The Soldier lifted her eyes and watched Martha administer CPR. For the first time in years, it felt like she was really _seeing._ She had done this. Everything was her fault. She could have taken a subtle approach in finding the Plasmavore, gone undercover in the hospital. Instead she had risked the life of thousands of humans, and now because of her, half of a planet was going to be killed. The Doctor had died because she was irresponsible. Because she couldn't think strategically enough. Because she couldn't do something without endangering or killing everyone around her.

No more.

The Soldier got up and approached the MRI back room. She pulled out her EMS and scanned quickly. The red switch. Wasn't it always the red switch? She pulled it apart and left the room, unable to look back at the Doctor's body. She needed to reverse the teleportation so that the humans wouldn't suffocate. Grieving could come later.

She teleported onto the Judoon ship and disabled the plasma core teleportation, enabling the hospital to return.

The Soldier retreated into her quarters and collapsed on the floor.

The Doctor was dead. Dead. It was her fault. She was alone again because she had lost her compassion, her morality while in her selfish misery. She hated herself. Why was she so useless? Why couldn't she do anything right?

The Doctor, she remembered him now. The man who had stood against his own race and tried to do the right thing by helping humans. He had accepted exile, but still continued to save the Universe. He had also saved the Time Lords from Omega's tyranny and been temporarily elected as President for his efforts. He had even made Romana into the wonderful leader that she had been. A good man, a great man such as that had been killed because of her apathy to other species. Martha Jones had been right. It was all her fault.

She couldn't continue like this. She needed to change, become better. Her depression couldn't control her anymore.

She had met and lost a Time Lord in the span of an hour.

The Soldier pressed her eyes, attempting to stop her tears.

No more tears.

She needed to do this job right. No more easy solutions. She would no longer turn a blind eye to others' suffering. It was the least she could do in memory of the Doctor. If the Doctor had survived the Time War, others would have as well. She would set out to find them. There was hope.

The Soldier felt the ball of misery release. She would do right by the inhabitants of the Universe. Since she couldn't be a soldier for Gallifrey, she would be one for the rest of the Universe. Protect the weak. Kill true evil. That was her oath now.

o0o

The Soldier time-jumped countless times for her missions. She had a mental count of the number of cases she had undertaken since she joined the Shadow Proclamation. When the number reached 99,000, she started to feel a bitter aftertaste. Killing targets had long lost its appeal. She was tired, for the battles had been too many. The thrill of fighting new enemies disappeared. It has been at least 250 years on her personal timeline since the Doctor died. The Soldier had not even found any other Time Lord while in service with the Shadow Proclamation.

Feeling a bone-deep weariness, she resolved that her 100,000th case would be her last. She wrote her resignation letter to the Shadow Architect, asking that she be forgiven for her departure. The Soldier claimed the arsenal of weapons and one favor as compensation for her services. The Soldier gave exact coordinates of her location and entreated that the situation be explained to her other younger self. She finally explained who and what she was to the Shadow Architect and implored that she keep the secret.

Ironically, rather than the 100,000th case, it was the next case that caused her to leave.

o0o

The Soldier was posted to Panache to execute a terrorist group of Latites. The planet Panache was situated in the Alevora system and was inhabited by 100 million species, but the most prominent among them were the Latites and the Smicks. The Latites were blue humanoids that were kept subservient under the purple humanoid Smicks. The Latites had been exploited and plundered to such an extent that they had resorted to arms against the Smicks. She knew that there was no set right and wrong in this situation, and this had lately represented most of the cases she had been doing lately. Before the Doctor's death, she had concentrated on clinically completing missions but now she tried to obtain more information about the mission and carry out the objective with the least collateral possible.

The Soldier exited the transport ship and quietly made her way through a lush green forest, making sure to camouflage her spaceship. She made sure that her hood was up, and that she had her EMS and basic arsenal before heading out. The Soldier gracefully jumped up and lithely scaled the trees, barely making a swishing noise as she passed.

The Soldier halted when she came across a clearing full of green grass and flowers. In the middle of the clearing, a group of very young Latites were playing a game with an adult Latite who appeared to be male. The man kept turning his back to the children before swiftly turning back, upon which the children would freeze. He pulled funny faces and silly antics to get the children to unfreeze, and continue the process until all the children were on the floor laughing in delight.

Watching them, the Soldier felt a smile pull her lips. She watched them until the man finally gathered all the children and took them from the clearing. Feeling a sense of loss, the Soldier descended onto the clearing and stood on the spot where the man had been, wondering if she should follow them and ensure their safety. The odd painful emptiness at their absence sealed her decision and she stalked them at a distance, being careful to remain undetected.

One of the children in the back dressed in a small shirt and flaring skirt, seemed to hear the Soldier's movements and turned around curiously to search for the source of the noise. Laughing gleefully at the sight of a red blur, she turned away from the group and followed it with wonder.

The Soldier noticed the child-female follow her and tried to direct her back to the group by moving closer to them, but the child insisted on getting lost. Sighing in exasperation, she came to a stop and jumped down, her hood falling back. She approached the child slowly, keeping a soft smile on her face so that she didn't frighten the child. It seemed redundant, since the child started jumping up and down in excitement at her, clearly fascinated at the difference in her physiology.

"Hello, hello! You have white skin! Did you wash your face too much?" the child asked curiously in Lashim, the common tongue of Panache. The Soldier paused, recalling the knowledge of the language before responding politely, "No, no, little one, I was born this way. Well, reborn actually." The Soldier corrected unconsciously.

"Reborn? What's that?" the child was confused, still grinning in her excitement.

"That is not important. Why are you not with your caretaker?" The Soldier admonished gently.

"What's a caretaker?" The child asked again. The Soldier sighed in annoyance.

"The man you were playing with?" She clarified. The child crossed her arms and pouted, and the Soldier was hit with the sudden urge to giggle at the child's expression.

"His name isn't caretaker! It's Artis!" The child corrected tetchily.

"Well, why are you not with him?" Soldier repeated, trying to contain her growing smile.

"Because! Because he-he-" the child paused with sudden realization, "He left me behind! Waaaah!" The child suddenly started wailing, and the Soldier panicked, approaching the child and trying to sooth her.

"Do not cry." The Soldier wiped the tears falling from the child's face. "If you want, I will help you find him; do you want to come with me?"

"Nooooo. I want Artis!" she wailed, and the Soldier debated leaving the child alone for a moment so she could retrieve him. But that would be extremely irresponsible.

"Sshshsh. I can hear him, can you?" the Soldier invented, hoping to calm her down. The child paused, straining to hear anything.

"No." The child said quietly, looking disappointed.

"Well I can, and do you want to know something?" The child nodded. "I have special powers. I can take you quickly back to him. Look, he is right over there, searching worriedly for you." The Soldier said, pointing where the man, Artis, had last been.

"Okay." The child replied hesitantly. The Soldier crouched in front of her, offering a piggy back ride, so she could travel quickly through the trees. The child got on, nearly strangling the Soldier with her grip.

"Not so tight. I will not let you fall." The Soldier placed her hands on her legs, before jumping back onto the tree. The child screamed in surprise, and the Soldier flinched from her proximity of the screech.

"Are you scared? Do you want me to walk?" The Soldier asked in concern. The child shook her head vigorously, "No! More! More! It's fun!" The child laughed in glee and the Soldier paused, looking at her in amazement at her sudden mood changes.

Pleased she had met the child's approval, she scaled the trees again, taking care not to jolt the child too much as she jumped from tree to tree. The Soldier spotted the group again, the man, _Artis,_ looking worried as he retraced his steps, calling out for a Bilvi.

The Soldier jumped in front of him, and the man retreated, stunned at seeing an alien carrying Bilvi on its back. The Soldier suddenly felt off kilter, embarrassed, for a reason she couldn't explain so she picked the child gently from her back and placed her on the floor before disappearing into the trees as abruptly as she had landed.

Artis blinked, wondering if he was seeing things, before remembering the child and checking over her in concern. That had been extremely odd. Aliens generally did not help Latites since Smicks had an ongoing propaganda that Latites were dangerous indigenous life forms that needed to be controlled by any means necessary. He brushed it off, just grateful that someone had shown kindness to an innocent child.

The Soldier watched Artis's expressions and the feeling of being off kilter returned again, and she sped off, leaving them behind. She was unsettled by the feeling as it felt uncannily familiar.

The Soldier stopped and debated whether to scout and see if there were any Latite settlements ahead. She contemplated whether she should first converse with the Latites or the Smicks. The Smicks clearly had more political clout, with even the Shadow Proclamation standing behind them. However the Latites were an indigenous race that did not care for Intergalactic politics and mostly survived with nature, adopting some modern comforts, but largely shunning things that did not coexist with nature.

The Soldier was well aware that too much had been done by both sides in this conflict and that coexisting peacefully was not an option anymore. Maybe it could be, in a few decades, when the bad blood between them had lessened, but it was nearly impossible now.

But she had to try and resolve the conflict, no matter how impossible it seemed. Since the Latites were the nearly powerless ones, she decided to approach them first.

The Soldier darted off, discovering a large settlement near the forest river. She lightly jumped onto the tallest tree, and scanned for any technology using her EMS. There were only cameras installed near the tree line to detect any intruders and the headquarters where someone consistently kept watch.

The Soldier settled on the tree to keep watch and observe their habits. Night came in, and slowly the lights on the houses turned on and eventually turned off. The cameras were changed to infrared mode, and the shift of the guard at the headquarters changed.

The next morning, the Soldier descended the tree, and walked purposefully into the settlement, making sure to hide all her weapons and keep her hood down. As she entered, the Latite guards drew their weapons and drew them at her, ready to shoot. The Soldier held her hands up in surrender, deciding it was better to appear harmless then immediately scrambling all their weapons with a burst of sonic and EM radiation.

"I am unarmed." The Soldier took off her coat and shook it, taking care not to turn it over so her weapons didn't fall out of her pockets. The inter-dimensional pockets themselves appeared too small to hold any conventionally sized weapon.

"Who are you? What are you?" A guard asked suspiciously. He was tall, with large muscles and deep blue, almost black eyes.

"No one. I was just passing through this system and my craft crashed. I was only seeking help." The Soldier answered, placating.

"You are a warrior. What business does a warrior have on this side of the system? You are here to aid the Smicks, aren't you?" The guard lashed out, and the guards closed in at those words.

"I am not here to aid the Smicks. I do not care for political games, I am only a soldier."

"A soldier? What is your name and species designation?" The tall guard interrogated.

The Soldier was aware she could not pass her title in this case. They would mistrust her, and the conversation would erupt in gunfire in the next breath.

"I am Red Alpha. I am a human from Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, coordinates 32.4sigma33phi54." The Soldier stated being sure to make eye contact so that she seemed truthful.

"You are a long way from home. What is your purpose here?"

"I am a retired soldier. Look at me. I am old." The Soldier gestured to herself, well aware that she appeared in her fifties by human standards.

"How do we know you are old? We've never had humans on this planet before." He asked bewildered.

"Well, I am flattered you do not think I am old. "The Soldier joked, trying her best to be non-threatening. "I was merely cruising, when my ship got caught in a solar flare. Systems got damaged and I crashed here. Now please put your weapons down. I come in peace."

The tall guard contemplated a moment further before lowering his weapon. "Amin and Gino, escort the intruder to Leader Sixteen."

The Soldier followed them to the headquarters she had scouted last night, entering to find a stout blue humanoid dressed impeccably in stark white robes and the number 16 branded in Lashim on his left cheek. He was bent over a table of maps and placing small figurines on various areas.

"Leader Sixteen, we have an intruder in the settlement. A human from the Milky Way Galaxy." A guard announced, making the white robed man, Leader Sixteen, turn around.

"A human?" The Leader asked, bemused. He turned to her and asked, "What business do you have here?"

"My ship was damaged by solar flares and it crashed here. Do you have equipment for repair?" The Soldier fibbed.

"What model?" He asked with a put upon sigh.

"Starship 2841, 200Mcc silver engine."

The Leader seemed surprised, before looking upon her pityingly. "That is way out of our expertise. You won't find repairs for such a ship anywhere on this planet. I am sorry, but you are stranded here."

"Oh." The Soldier made a distressed face. "Do you have a refugee centre or any Intergalactic Agency as such?"

"Everything is closed down. A war is on the horizon and most of us do not want to get aliens involved, though the Smick Emperor seems determined to bring in extraterrestrial help." The Leader grumbled.

"Ok. Is there something I can do for your settlement? Perhaps I can render a service for letting me stay for a while? At least until the Agency opens up again?"

The Leader looked at her sharply, analyzing her carefully. He seemed suspicious of her and she hurried to explain.

"I am a retired soldier but I promise I will not interfere in your affairs. I can assist in domestic affairs, if you prefer." The Soldier suggested, trying to look sincere despite her invention. Something about the man made her respect him. He seemed like a people's leader, genuinely concerned for their well-being rather than exploiting the fruits of their labor.

The Leader considered her a moment before giving her an ultimatum. "If you harm anyone in this settlement or if I find the smallest deceit in your story your life will be forfeit. Are we clear?"

"Of course." The Soldier gave him a small smile. "Thank you for your generosity."

"There is a man in this village, his name is Artis. Everyone is preparing for war here, but he is completely useless. The only purpose he serves is watching our young. You will be residing with him."

"Artis?" The Soldier parroted, shocked.

"Yes. He'll be a little more useful if he can watch over you too." The Leader drawled sarcastically.

o0o

The next few days found her residing in the nursery where parents left their children in the care of Artis. They all viewed her with suspicion and fascination equally but leaving her in the presence of Artis seemed to mollify them.

The situation between Artis and the Soldier was awkward since the Soldier felt continuously off kilter in his presence and avoided him as much as possible. Artis seemed to recognize her from the forest and was gracious to her. This made the unbalanced feeling worse for the Soldier. She wasn't stupid, she knew she was attracted to Artis. And it didn't make any sense to her since he was silly, forgetful and below average in intelligence even for a Latite. But he was kind, gracious, gentle and did his work with a quiet determination that she found endearing. As much as she avoided time with him personally, she found herself stealing glances at him whenever she could. He looked like a normal human, with big baby blue eyes, a large nose and a strong jaw on a square face, but his skin painted a crisp blue. He had long smooth black hair that almost reached his shoulders and his favorite habit seemed to be running his hand through his hair, especially when he felt particularly sheepish about something. That was her favorite moment, and she was hard pressed to look away from him those times. The Soldier was surprised that Artis didn't have lines of women waiting for his attention, but she discovered that while his status as an orphan had gotten some regard, his reputation of being the village idiot had driven them away.

Everything changed between them three days later when one of the children, Rolt, was too enthusiastic about hiding while playing and got lost. Artis had started panicking and the Soldier had offered her assistance. She left Artis to watch the children while she scouted the area for Rolt and found him hiding on a nearby tree, giggling in delight at the mischief he had caused. Smiling despite her irritation, she quickly scooped him up out of the tree and jumped theatrically for the child's benefit, delighting him.

Artis was exceedingly grateful and seemed genuinely interested in her after that, unlike the polite interest he had shown earlier. They became friends and Artis started explaining the political situation to her.

As the Soldier gained more knowledge, a tentative plan started to form in her mind. It seemed that if the Smick Emperor and the Leader Zero, leader of the settlement leaders, tried to enhance inter-community interaction then perhaps they would retreat from the brink of war. But getting those two to see reason was nearly an impossible feat.

Well then, she was just going to have to kidnap them.

o0o

The Soldier walked quietly along the Smick city of Parshist, picking up a discarded newspaper. On the front page were reports on how the terrorist groups of Latites had brutally murdered numerous army officials and left them on pikes outside the city. The images were unsettling and the Soldier debated whether civil discourse would yield any positive solutions. A long war of guerilla tactics and and extreme propaganda had led to an unstable seemed the slightest push would result in war.

The Soldier had snuck out of Settlement 16 yesterday under the guise of getting supplies and tried to plan her rather ridiculous kidnapping. She was getting desperate, especially since the planet was starting to feel like her own. She felt a sinking premonition that her plan was doomed.

Gathering her courage, the Soldier scanned the Parliament building with her EMS. Again, only cameras and guards surrounded the area, and with a quick burst of EM radiation, she sent a virus that played the last few seconds in a continuous loop. She scaled the building to the roof, avoiding the patrolling guards and descended silently down chimney into the building. Listening for anyone outside, she jumped onto the ceiling and moved towards the Emperor's room like a lizard. Two guards stood outside the office and the Soldier took out her EMS scanning their biology.

 _Single cardiovascular system. Respiratory bypass system and two livers. Pliant skin. Weak point in defense: No additional guard in sight. Method: Distract and engage with a blow to the head._

The Soldier sent a burst of sonic waves to the nearby windows and the glass cracked. The guards took a step away from their post to look and she descended behind them, knocking them out with a blow to the head. She entered the room to find the Emperor dozing at his desk, and she drugged him to continue his sleep.

The Soldier quickly swapped the clothes of the Emperor with one of the guards, and placed her red coat over him. The Emperor was a small man with a rotund belly and the Soldier struggled to get the man near the windows. Even though the sonic waves had been too high a frequency for the Smicks to hear, the quickest escape was through the window, and shattering glass was the quickest way to raise alarm.

The Soldier positioned the Emperor on her back and kicked the glass window. Alarms started ringing, and she leaped, running agilely through the crowds and eventually shifting to rooftops to avoid detection. She ran out of the city and into the forest, reaching a rundown cabin near a polluted lake. She tied the man up and set off for Leader Zero, hoping she'd be less messy.

Leader Zero, as it turned out, had no protection unit around him and was lazing under a tree near Settlement 21. The Soldier soon found out why, since as soon as she approached him, he stood to attention armed. He was lean but made of pure muscle, and the Soldier immediately knew he was a fighter.

"I mean you no harm." The Soldier said, raising her hands in mock surrender. She approached him slowly and he tensed, looking bemused at her appearance.

"What do you want?" He asked tersely.

"I wish for you to speak with someone. I have recently transferred to Settlement 16 and there are some suggestions I wish to make. If you take the time to observe, you will not be disappointed." The Soldier entreated. If she played this right, then he could be coerced into walking into that cabin rather than forcefully kidnapping him.

"Oh, you're the human." He looked at her, distrusting.

The Soldier sighed; she didn't want to do this the hard way. "Listen, you must follow me. Keep your weapon if necessary."

The man nodded and gestured for her to proceed. She led him to the cabin and paused outside waiting for him to catch up. When he reached her, she opened the door, and the man froze in shock at the sight of the Smick Emperor. Taking the opportunity, the Soldier grabbed his weapon and pushed him inside the cabin and the man turned to her with a glare.

"What is the meaning of this?" Leader Zero barked and the sound seemed to rouse the Emperor from his nap.

"Sit down now." The Soldier ordered, shutting the door behind her. She pulled her coat away from the Emperor, not willing to risk him finding any weapons from inside it.

"I will talk and you will listen. Clear?" The two men glared at her in refusal. "Do you understand me?" She repeated sternly, firing the gun between the two of them. They flinched and nodded reluctantly.

"You must stop the oncoming war. Too many people have already died, and thousands more will perish because of your petty squabbles."

"Squabble! Impertinent creature! What knowledge would _you_ have of this land? What do you know of the sufferings of my people? I had no _squabble_ with him," The Emperor mocked with a snarl. "He executed my citizens. Under the guise of protecting nature, they have killed so many, that there are now cities of graves. It is no mere squabble, there must be justice!"

"Do not act innocent Emperor; your evils surpass us all! You came to our lands first! You killed thousands in my village simply to build more luxury buildings for yourself!" Leader Zero roared. "You enslaved my people! You treat them worse than animals!"

"Enough!" The Soldier interrupted, "If war breaks out, millions more will die! Whichever side wins, they will forever keep the other under their thumb. Rebellion will rise again and the cycle will continue. Instead, try to extend a truce and exchange ideas. You can learn so much from each other!"

"Who are you to interfere in our affairs? You have no right to be advising us on anything." The Emperor bit out scathingly.

"Human, you have no knowledge of our suffering. Do not bring in your naïve ideals here. Things are not so simple. I heard that you are a soldier. Soldiers have no knowledge of such affairs. Your duty is only to your superiors." Leader Zero growled.

"Let me tell you something." The Soldier said, growing desperate. "I am not a human. I am a Time Lord."

"What?" The Emperor said stunned. "That can't be true, they are creatures of legend. They died out a long time ago!" Leader Zero looked confused.

"I am the last of my kind. My entire planet was consumed in flames because we were in a never ending Time War with the Daleks. Nobody, not one, survived that, not even the Daleks. The destruction that our mutual hatred inspired spread far across the Universe, and _many_ species died. Do you wish this upon your people? Inviting destruction that wipes out millions of lives? Because your policy of involving aliens, Emperor, will definitely spread your war. And then what will remain of your planet? Stop this. You two _must_ attempt a truce."

The two of them paused and hesitatingly turned to each other.

"There may be a way for us to cooperate. I do not wish for Nature to suffer due to our conflicts. I do not wish for the fate of Gallifrey." Leader Zero said slowly, grimacing as he said it. "But you enslaved my people. That can never be forgotten. We wish to live by our ways, away from your rule, and your kind."

"We sought to develop the lands we occupied so everyone could live better lives." the Emperor mirrored his grimace, "Perhaps we should have included your people in this endeavor but things did not end up as such. We will be more inclusive in our rule from now. Development has been my first priority and unfortunately some are bound to take the fall."

"And you don't think this is wrong? Is money more important than life? Heathen! We want nothing to do with you people! We are happy as we are, undisturbed!" Leader Zero spit out, his anger rising again.

"You people are so backward! Uncomprehending and so stupid! We are doing you a favor by bringing you into our world!" The Emperor replied with growing disgust.

"Us stupid? You are the ones defiling the planet! You build unnecessary buildings and devices that ruin the land, water and air! All for money and luxury!"

"You are part of a stunted civilization that is too scared to move forward! We Smicks have managed to understand the workings of the universe! That money has made our planet famous across so many galaxies! We give people equal rights, an education and the freedom to do what they like!"

"Freedom? Equal rights! And what do you call what you have done to my people?" Leader Zero voice broke in rage.

"We have been trying to assimilate them into our society! Teach them about progress and forward thinking! Why are your people so afraid of progress?" The Emperor bit back.

"You call slaughtering progress? Slavery as forward thinking? Your kind does not deserve to live! You are full of hypocrisies and casual cruelty."

"Us hypocrites? This coming from the people who put soldiers up on pikes?! My people can wipe out yours like this-" The Emperor snapped his fingers. "It is _tolerance_ for your people that has _let_ you live for so long."

"How dare you! Your people are nothing but overindulged fat animals and killing them will be like hunting for us! Let the war begin! We will show you how useless and worthless you people really are!"

The Soldier stood distressed at the escalating situation. Getting these two together had been useless. It had made things much worse. What could she do? War was eminent the moment these two stepped out of the cabin. Her senses even indicated a dangerous shift in the timeline. They needed to be stopped. No matter the cost. There was no other choice.

Feeling a cold pit in her stomach, she aimed her gun and fired.

 **AN: So just to be clear, the Doctor didn't actually die. Martha managed to resuscitate him, just like in the series, only for the Doctor to realize that the device was already disabled. So that whole carrying Martha in his arms in the hospital and all that happened. All canon. I am sorry that the Doctor interaction is so brief, but I promise the next Doctor scene will be more substantial. Everything in the Smith and Jones episode is rushed, so I couldn't really have the Doctor and the Soldier sit down for a chat.**

 **Also please review and tell me what you think about my character. Plus reviews are great motivation!. :D**


	7. The Match That Lit The Flames

**AN: Thank you very much for your support and reviews. This chapter is in celebration of Doctor Who Series 9 starting!**

 **I've tried to maintain a realistic characterization of the Soldier and tried not to excuse any of her actions but like the 12** **th** **doctor said, sometimes there are only bad choices. While the Doctor can create miraculous solutions largely because he has a TARDIS and writer bias, the Soldier isn't so lucky. To the Soldier, killing a few "innocent" men to spare a civil War, while wrong, is still better than the alternative. Doctor Who is full of questionable morality and I will not hesitate in trying to depict this.**

The Match That Ignited the Flames

The Soldier stood staring at the dead bodies of the rulers. Their faces were frozen in indignant shock, clearly caught off guard in the middle of their argument. The Soldier felt the cold numbness that engulfed her when she killed those she knew didn't deserve to die. The image of Artis flashed across her eyes and the regret shattered her numbness for a second before she hurriedly shelved the emotion. Though she generally cared for the well-being of a planet's inhabitants, she was personally invested this time. She couldn't imagine Artis forgiving her for what she had just done.

Which meant he would never know.

The Soldier pulled out her disintegration beam and kneeled next to their bodies. "I am truly sorry. But it is better if you two die than your species and planet."

The Soldier disintegrated their bodies and collected their ashes. She walked to the forest river and scattered their ashes in it, saying a prayer in Gallifreyan that honored the dead. There was nothing more she could do.

The Soldier trudged slowly through the forest back to Settlement 16 and her mind whirred through all possible plans. There was only one that would work, but she hated even the thought of it.

It was simple, almost obvious when you thought about it. The Outsiders and Time Lords had disliked each other until a common threat –the Daleks- had united them together. No matter how much Latites and Smicks hated each other, if they were presented with a greater foreign threat, they would have to cooperate and create a truce even if they were reluctant.

And who was the best foreign threat at the moment? Her.

The Soldier felt nausea rise at the role she had to play. In a twisted way, she'd already dug her grave, now she just had to lie in it. Murdering both leaders was more than sufficient cause for her to be deemed a threat. But the biggest objection she had to this plan was simultaneously the biggest cause of her going through with it.

Artis.

He would never look at her the same way again if she went through with this and yet she wanted to protect him from the war. At least then he could live peacefully with his people and more importantly, his compassion would be seen as strength rather than weakness.

The Soldier covered her face, shaking in turmoil. Why had she even interfered in the first place? She had no right to decide who lived and died. She had no right to be arrogant to think she knew best. War and conflict were equally as important as peace and harmony in defining races and progress. Sure, thousands, _millions_ died uselessly in wars, but how could she have been conceited enough to assume that she was the one with the solution? That what she did would be right?

The Soldier shook, unable to stop the tears of regret that escaped her eyes. She was over a thousand years old and so tired. Maybe what she had done for now was enough. She could head back and pretend she had no idea what was going on.

It was cowardly but she did not want to become the villain for the greater good. After so many years, she'd found someone she actually liked being around and she loathed the idea of pushing him away. The Soldier, unlike other Time Lords, didn't have the illusion that she was better than everyone else. She loved _being_ a Time Lord, she loved _Gallifrey_ but she had, from a very young age, been taught to see the flaws of Time Lords. She considered herself better than _other_ Time Lords for that very reason, but not better than every being in the Universe. Being average had only enforced this. The Soldier didn't mind that she wasn't special or one of a kind; on the contrary, she hated the uniqueness of being the last of her kind. Loathed its loneliness.

All she wanted was peace. Of mind? Or of the world around her, she did not know.

So far, no one knew what she had just done. If she played this right then no one ever would. Since the heads of the opposing sides was missing, there would be no immediate danger of war. Maybe. Hopefully.

The Soldier had a gut feeling that she wouldn't be so lucky, that she was doing something very wrong but she would not be the villain. Mind made against every instinct in her, the Soldier reached Artis's home and entered to find him cooking in the kitchen for the children's midday meal.

"You're back!" Artis grinned at her in welcome. The Soldier paused from going to her room.

"Where are your supplies? The ones from your ship?" Artis asked quizzically.

The Soldier patted her coat pockets. Artis looked at her confused. "Not much survived. I need to freshen up. I will be back in a moment." The Soldier dashed to her room, unable to face Artis.

The Soldier stood under the spiraling showerhead as it cleansed her and swore to herself that she wouldn't act on her hateful plan unless she had no other option. She exited and dressed, feeling a little better after her resolution. She joined Artis and sat next to him as he cut the vegetables.

"Do you hate the Smicks?" The Soldier asked him tentatively.

"Yep. No doubt about it." Artis looked at her bemused. "Why, is something wrong?"

"It does not disturb you that war is on the horizon?" The Soldier asked intensely.

Artis sighed. "Just because I hate some people doesn't mean I'm okay with war. I don't want a war breaking out, but if it's the only way that Smicks stop mistreating my people then there isn't anything I can do about it."

"What if there was a truce? Would you hate that?" The Soldier was tapping the table restlessly with her fingers.

"Are you okay? Why are you so keyed up? It's not like you." Artis asked worriedly. The Soldier jolted at the unexpected question and scolded herself for her transparency. No matter how reserved she was, in front of Artis she felt comfortable, vulnerable even. She calmed herself, waiting patiently for his reply.

"That's never going to happen. It's impossible." Artis took in the Soldier's conflicted expression and sighed before replying again. "Who doesn't want peace? I don't want my kinsmen dying."

"Perhaps the Smicks share a similar sentiment. Maybe a truce would be better?" She ventured again.

"As a soldier, I suppose you understand the evils of war. But don't forget that no one actually wants to be in one. Sometimes accepting the fate of being suppressed is a greater evil than defending yourself in a war. If any truce does happen, it must be fair to the Latites. In fact, it must be fair to everyone, not just us; to all the other races too, the Gondos, Shalwins so that the Smicks do not move to suppress another."

The Soldier faintly traced the cloth on the table with her fingers as she mulled in thought before responding, "What do you think would unite them all?"

"Love?" Artis grinned and winked at her, and the Soldier let out a small choking laugh, trying to hide the flush in her face.

"Be serious." The Soldier scolded reprovingly but her flushed face took away any bite.

"So we're going to keep talking about the impossible then?" Artis teased, taking delight in how easy it was to provoke the Soldier.

"Artis." The Soldier warned jokingly. She took the knife from him and chopped the vegetables much quicker, her expertise with blades coming through.

"Red." Artis mimicked before sending her a toothy smile. The Soldier felt her hearts skip a beat.

"How were the spawn of the devil while I was gone?" The Soldier queried with a smile. Artis let out a deep laugh before answering,

"The usual. Upended the house, went wild in the forest and since I'm the _boss_ of the devil, I made them clean up after themselves." Artis wiggled his eyebrows comically.

"If you managed that, you are definitely the boss of the _universe_." The Soldier teased. She felt warmth suffuse her when he laughed again.

"Do you want to go for a walk after cooking?" The Soldier asked casually. "The wind outside will be a reprieve from the heat inside."

"Yeah sure, though we should be back before the first child gets dropped off."Artis cautioned.

The Soldier and Artis worked in unison around the kitchen and finished the meal quickly. They walked out the door and towards the forest edge.

They had been strolling for fifteen minutes, chatting about nothing in particular when the warning bells from the settlement starting ringing rigorously. Alarmed, the two of them rushed back and found a large number of people gathered around the outhouse. Leader Sixteen stood in front, asking people to get seated.

The Soldier and Artis approached and stood in the back, hiding among the numerous others in the back.

"Leader Zero is missing and suspected dead. The Smicks have finally done it. They had the audacity to murder Leader Zero! This will not be forgiven! We will go to war. We will no longer tolerate the atrocities the Smicks have commited-"

His speech was drowned out by the sound of an approaching aircraft and the Soldier stared in muted horror as the aircraft started firing upon the village. What had she done? Things had escalated too fast. War had broken out anyway. She would have to do it. Stop the war by any means possible. It was her fault again.

Screams rang throughout the village as men, women, and children ran trying to find shelter. Artis ran forward, trying to pull the Soldier to safety. The Soldier pushed Artis to the ground when she spotted the aircraft shooting at him and anger prompted her to run towards the aircraft. Dodging the lasers, she pulled out her gun and fired at the wing, causing the craft to crash into the forest. The Latite warriors rushed towards the crash site and Artis stood up staring at her in shock before pulling her back to his home.

"It's started. It's finally started!" Artis exclaimed in horror.

o0o

The Soldier silently returned to the cabin where she had killed the two rulers.

The war had begun with the Latites having advantage over land and Smicks with technology. Barely half a day had passed, and already fire was rising steadily from all directions with screams echoing in the forest.

The Soldier was conflicted. Artis's words echoed in her mind.

 _Sometimes accepting the fate of being suppressed is a greater evil than defending yourself in a war._

This wasn't her world. She shouldn't have interfered. She should have just dealt with the rogue Latites and left. Not even that. She should have just quit the Shadow Proclamation. She didn't have any right to make this decision. The Latites and Smicks had problems with each other that wouldn't resolve easily. Maybe not until thousands died. There was no hope.

The sound of wheezing groaning filled the air. Familiar scented wind drifted through the windows.

Startled, the Soldier rushed to the door and opened it to find nothing outside. Turning around, she heard a door slamming, and she quietly closed her own before sneaking around to the back of the cabin. She made out the outline of a blue box before a man dressed in a magician's coat stormed past her to pick up a rock and throw it at a tree. He was aged similar to her with deep wrinkles lining his face. His eyebrows were sharp, seeming to be a weapon of their own, in contrast to the raging devastation in his eyes. Her Senses tingled.

The Soldier stood on guard and drew her weapon, waiting for him to face her. A man in his state was desperate and dangerous.

The Doctor turned, looking for something else on which to vent his rage and spotted a vaguely familiar figure. Where had he seen that face before? No, not important. Gun, she had a gun.

"Why are you pointing your gun at me? Is it a crime to throw rocks now?" The Doctor lashed out, his face contorting in disgusted condescension. "Soldiers! Hate the lot of you!"

The Soldier jolted in surprise before lowering her gun an inch. "You have landed in warring territory. Looking at your physiology, you are clearly an alien."

"How do you know I am an alien? We both have identical humanoid features." The Doctor asked with a glare.

"This is Panache of Alevora system. At this moment in time, all intergalactic contact has been cut off due to civil war." The Soldier returned calmly, unaffected by the glare. "I am the only other alien to have arrived in the past two months."

"Oh right, blue and violet humans, _the_ _joy_. I just got kicked off one human world and am about to be kicked off another. _Wonderful."_ The Doctor kicked a nearby tree. "Why are you still here? I don't want to see the face of a _soldier_. Get lost!"

"You have intruded on _my_ space, not the other way around. Do not be loud or else we will be heard."

"Hiding, are you? Some soldier _you_ are." The Doctor mocked but nonetheless settled on a stump near the cabin.

"These are not my people; I have no right to interfere in their business." The Soldier retorted sharply.

"Exactly! How can you make decisions for races that aren't yours? Help them even? They find it so easy to pawn off blame onto you!" The Soldier didn't think he was really referring to her.

"Who are you anyway?" The Doctor snapped.

"I am the Soldier but people here know me as Red Alpha." She responded, trying not to get mad at his rudeness. "Who are you?"

The Doctor froze, looking extremely conflicted. "Of all people…" He muttered. He regarded her carefully trying to figure out which version of the Soldier this was. Clearly the Soldier hadn't met this him yet.

"Well I'm not sure you would even _kno_ w! Tell me, have you ever been on Earth?" The Doctor dodged.

"Yes I have; once on the planet and then on its satellite, the moon. Now who are you?" The Soldier said, irritated at the condescension.

The Doctor thought quickly. The Soldier he'd known had stayed on Earth multiple times, so clearly this was before _the incident._ It was best if she didn't know who he was.

"I'm John Smith." The Doctor drawled. " _Common_ name isn't it?" The Doctor's eyes glittered with hidden amusement at his joke.

"How did you land on this planet?" The Soldier interrogated, ignoring the Doctor's cryptic emphasis. "Why are you here?"

"What, people can make pit stops now, can't they?" The Doctor complained.

The Soldier sighed, her patience already wearing thin from the horrors of the day. "If you harm the inhabitants of this planet in any way, I will kill you. Understood?"

"Yea, yea. I don't really care anyway." The Doctor's defensive attitude suddenly disappeared and his visage visibly drooped, his eyes showing desolation she hadn't seen in another in a long time.

Something of the man's suffering seemed kindred to her own and the Soldier found herself sitting down across from him, unable to be alone in her misery and recognizing the same in him. She sat quietly, appreciating his silent company.

"What happened?" The Doctor asked eventually, having had enough of the silence. After everything the two of them had been through, he couldn't bring himself to ignore her despair, especially since he'd been the root cause of it many times.

"What do you mean?" The Soldier answered slowly.

"Why do you look so miserable?" The Doctor turned to her, watching her carefully.

"What business is it of yours?" The Soldier asked apprehensively.

"None really. But I'm a stranger to you and I only came here because I was running from my own problems. I'll be gone before the end of the day. You can tell me."

The Soldier stared skeptically at him. "You first."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment before responding. "A friend of mine, Clara, left me. Told me to go away and never come back. Just like that. It was so easy for her."

"What did you do?" The Soldier asked intuitively. As loath as she was to hearing 'romantic' problems, she appreciated the trivial distraction from her own troubles.

"Nothing." Seeing the Soldier's disbelief, the Doctor was quick to continue, "Honestly, it was because I did nothing. She wanted me to act on behalf of her race and she got furious because I told her I couldn't. That I had no right to interfere like that." The Doctor's countenance seemed to slump even further.

"Oh. The situation I face is similar." She stared into the distance, mulling her own circumstances. "I love this planet, its people. But war has broken out and I do not know how it will end. I have thought of a way to end it, but the plan's execution – I have neither the will nor the right to do it. I have wrought enough damage without adding more."

"You _like_ this planet?" The Doctor made a face. "Well to each their own." His face drooped again. "I thought I was right in not interfering. But I was wrong. Clara left me and I don't like saying this often but she was right to do it. You can't say you love someone or something, and then desert them when they need you most. It's just like Clara said, when you breathe the same air, walk the same ground as them, you can sure as hell help when they need it."

The Soldier turned to see the Doctor rubbing his face continuously, fighting to control his grief. He turned to her with a grave expression.

"Don't make the same mistake that I did. If you care, then help them or else you'll just be alone, like me." The Doctor couldn't hide the slight tremor in his voice.

The Soldier dropped her head onto her hands. If she executed her plan then she'd be alone, but according to John Smith, she'd be alone if she didn't help anyway. What could she do? The lesser evil seemed to be the sacrifice of her happiness.

A familiar, despised, pit returned to her stomach. She was tormented because she knew her decision had already been made. All she was doing was procrastinating, indulging in the last few moments of the calm before the storm.

The Soldier looked up to the man claiming to be John Smith and considered him. Despite everything a small part of her hoped she could be forgiven for what she was about to do. Maybe if he could be forgiven for his inaction then she could be forgiven too. It was very unlikely she knew, but she hoped desperately anyways.

"Does this Clara love you?" The Soldier asked tentatively.

"I thought so. Or at least she did once, before I changed. Long story." The Doctor considered her carefully.

"Is she angry at you? Furious? Claiming to hate you?" The Soldier continued.

"Yes."

"No one is done with something when they are still angry about it. Indifference is what you should fear." The Soldier said with a smile.

"My experience tells me otherwise. Anger is a great motivator to ruining a relationship, hatred just seals the deal." The Doctor contradicted, giving a wry smile.

"Fine, then end it on good terms. Contact her and make peace with her. Even if there is no forgiveness, make the attempt to end it cordially. For yourself. So regret does not plague you later. Give yourself closure." The Soldier gave him a sad smile. "Guilt and regret are poison to the soul. The occasions where you can assuage them are few and far in between. Take this from someone who knows it well."

The Doctor hid his face behind his left hand, his fingers hiding his eyes. "If I ever wronged you, would you be able to forgive me?" Something in his tone told the Soldier he was implying something more.

"I am not Clara. Though if I was someone who claimed to love you and your apology was heartfelt, then yes." The Soldier replied comfortingly.

"That's not what-" The Doctor shook his head and broke off. "You already did, so what does it matter?" He muttered.

"What?" The Soldier looked at him confused. Before she could question him further, he stood up abruptly and moved away from her.

"Thank you. I'll think about what you said." The Doctor patted himself clean and looked ready to leave.

"Thank you." The Soldier replied. She felt hollow at the thought of him leaving. She had a strong feeling that she had missed something. That it had just slipped through her fingers. Something crucial.

The Doctor turned towards her for the final time.

"Do me a favor. If someone wrongs you, no, if you ever meet a man that has taken everything from you, don't forgive him easily."

The Soldier watched the complicated turn of emotions in the man's eyes, unable to discern anything in the turmoil. "What?"

"You seem like a decent person. Don't forgive those who wrong you easily. They don't deserve it." The Doctor's eyes teemed with guilt.

"Thought you hated soldiers Mr. Smith." The Soldier teased lightly, trying to lighten the situation. Her words seemed to make it worse.

"I do." His face was grave, his voice tinged with warning. "Goodbye Soldier."

With that the Doctor was off, reluctant to stay back any longer. It was for the best. Eventually he would find her, his Soldier.

The Soldier watched him leave and took off into the forest, unwilling to say her goodbye to him. She had an inkling that they would meet again.

o0o

The Soldier left Artis a note.

 _For you._

She couldn't explain anything more than that. And after everything, if he wanted to know why, then she would tell him everything.

o0o

Artis twitched with impatience as he waited for the last parent to pick up their child. An evacuation had been ordered to the underground bunkers that had been built to counter the air threats of the Smicks.

Artis was not going underground. A sinking dread had been plaguing him since Red's unusual behaviour that afternoon. She had never been so forthright and adding in the nature of the conversation earlier, he was starting to grow very uneasy.

He had to stop Red from doing something stupid.

Some of the Latites saw Red as a suspicious figure, some even as a spy. Most of them saw her as a misfit alien that was stranded but were nonetheless still very cautious. Artis felt this caution was well deserved because nobody, not even he, could deny that the Soldier cut an intimidating figure.

But he knew something that none of the other Latites did. The Soldier was alone. She had never said so, but it was something he had pieced together by observing her behavior. Her speech, actions, even her personality indicated a loneliness that he had seen in many orphans.

She had warmed up to him quite a bit, and Artis soon noticed new things about her that he hadn't before. The weight of the grief on the Soldier seemed deeper than he had initially surmised. He even began to see her moments of vulnerability that suddenly made her easier to read. Beneath her impersonal exterior was a very evident desire to help.

It was precisely that he feared. Her involvement was only going to make things worse. An alien soldier intervening had all sorts of disaster written over it. Even without any war knowledge, this was glaringly clear. The Soldier was up to something and he had a feeling it wouldn't bode well for anyone.

He used his rudimentary tracking skills to see traces of the direction she went. The wind directed him towards the cities and he took off at a run. There was no time to waste.

The sight that greeted him in the battlefield made him freeze in horror. The Soldier was in action, hardly visible in her speed as she mercilessly slaughtered tens of bodies.

She was making a mistake. Why was she killing both Latites and Smicks?

Nothing made sense. What was going on? Why was some contraption of the Soldier electrocuting without discrimination? Another contraption that seemed like an advanced gun was firing bullets in quick precision at another advancing platoon of Smicks. The electrocuting device of hers was simultaneously aimed at another squadron of Latites taking down several of his tribesmen at once.

There was a collective roar of anger from both the Smicks and Latites as they converged to take down the Soldier first before dealing with each other. It was an intuitive understanding; someone killing with no discrimination was unforgivable and much more dangerous. She had to be dealt with first.

The Leaders of both the Smicks and Latities shared a look of understanding before redirecting the orders of their men. Artis was torn between moving forward to help the Soldier and his kin.

No, the Soldier had completely betrayed him. She was killing the people that had taken care of her and given her a home.

What was she doing? Had she gone insane? Should he talk to her?

Before he could make his mind up one way or another, he heard a cold voice. As he glanced at the Soldier's countenance in the distance, her soulless expression made his insides shrivel up.

"Pathetic. The weapons you carry are absolutely useless against me."

"You alien! Where are you from?! How dare you attack us with no cause?!" Artis noticed that Krene who had been the Smick general, had taken temporary command of the Smicks.

"Human! How dare you betray us?! You will suffer for this." Leader Sixteen looked ready to fulfil his promise.

"There is nothing pathetic creatures like you can do to me." She drawled before a casual flick of the trigger in both hands saw more people fall.

"Stop!" Both leaders shouted in unison. But the Soldier just looked bored. "It took me a while to infiltrate both your races. But your dreadful state made it so easy." A cold smile broke out on her face, "It took only one person to make you fall to your knees. An entire planet brought down by just me." The bemusement of the Soldier broke out into cold laughter and as the platoons and squadron moved to take advantage of the distraction, she took down another set of people with another casual press.

"Like that is going to work against me." She taunted condescendingly. "This is humiliating to watch. You lack any semblance of unity. Your armies are so outmatched. Any hope of winning is only possible with you working together, which," Another mocking grin broke through, "we all know is not going to happen. Even your leaders, Zero was it, aptly named I must say, and the other weak one, the Emperor that spoke of progress for all, they tried to unite together to get rid of me." She gave a blatantly fake yawn, "We all know how _that_ turned out."

There was a collective uproar around the Soldier. Artis could not believe the words he was hearing. Everything he was hearing contradicted everything he knew about her. She was evil. She had killed so many without batting an eyelash.

"How dare you?!" "The Emperor was a good man!" "The Leader was a hero!" "Kill this alien!"

Krene and Leader Sixteen looked at each other and understanding spread silently between them. Their disagreements could be dealt with later. But this before them was evil. True evil that needed them to unite. Even their penultimate leaders had realized this which had led them to their untimely demise. They could see the wisdom of their choice. The alien had unwittingly told them the route to destroying it. It was the mistake of every villain.

Artis could feel similar thoughts flitting through all their minds. One alien could not withstand the onslaught of an united planet. As a river, they would grind her to dust. There was no way she would win against their constant onslaught.

"Do not be so surprised. It was amusing to see you turn on each other. Despite knowing both your leaders had died simultaneously, the conclusions you reached were laughable." A cold chuckle escaped her, as if the thought was hilarious. "Do not fret. You are not completely useless. For your mental faculties, slavery is a suitable occupation."

"Now!" Weapons from all directions shot in at her, and the Soldier leapt in the air, dodging at lightning speed. A stray bullet knocked the gun from her hands. A second wave of gunfire, poisoned arrows and throw knives came her way and the Soldier moved in impossible angles, avoiding most of the fire.

There! A poisoned arrow had ripped into the arm holding the other electric contraption. The contraption disappeared into her coat.

"It seems like you _have_ united. How inconvenient. Distrust needs to be sown more deeply between you people before the next attempt can be made. Oh and before I leave, I must clarify. I am not human. That was so insulting. Humans are pathetic and emotional and do not have the greatness to achieve something as glorious as this. I am a Ti-" She was cut off as another squadron of both Smicks and Latites closed in and started another round of fire.

The Soldier took off and suddenly she was difficult to see. All that could be seen was a blur, momentary distortions on parts of the ground. She was fleeing. The armies of both sides stared in confusion, before Leader Sixteen pointed in her direction. The armies took off in every direction, seeking to surround her and kill her.

The dangerous creature sought to enslave their planet. She could not be allowed to make contact with her species.

Artis could barely believe what had just happened. Red Alpha, the creature that he had shared his home with, was an abomination, a being of pure evil that killed with no remorse.

The creature that had asked him about unity had sought to sow seeds of distrust between races to make sure they could never unite. But they had united...

The alien that had saved Bilvi and Rolt.

The alien that was alone and had unfathomable sorrow.

Unbidden, the note she left him came to his mind.

 _For you._

Suddenly everything made a terrible, horrible kind of sense. The conversation between them of truces and what could unite them. She was being cruel. To be kind. But these were measures beyond cruelty, this was evil.

He ran. He ran as fast as he could. He had to find her. She was going to be killed. No, death would be a relief compared to they had in store for her.

He had to save her.

But his mind rebelled against him. Saving someone who had done something so horrific made him nauseated. His head spun and he saw black spots fill his vision. But still he ran, because of his heart. His heart told him everything.

He knew.

And no one else did.

He knew.

And she was dying.

AN: I haven't watched the new episode yet because I was busy with this. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

I know the Doctor part is confusing, but since it's the 12th Doctor, he has had much more interactions with her, than she with him. Why doesn't he know her at first? Spoilers! Also this is the Doctor after "Kill the Moon", if that wasn't apparent.

Please leave reviews! They are food to the soul of fanfiction writers!


	8. The Will to Live

**AN: Thank you for your reviews everyone!**

 **I know that this is a relatively new story so I should be updating more often, but I'm extremely busy, and the only time I get is the few minutes before bed and the weekends. I hope that this doesn't discourage readers from this story. I do promise to update at least once in two weeks and with a minimum of 3k words.**

 **I will be bringing in some romance soon.**

 **I'm aware that I brought in the overused concept of "Time Traveller's Wife, Doctor style" when the Doctor wondered which version of the Soldier it was. But truth be told, when you have two time travellers, things don't necessarily travel in a linear fashion. It's all 'timey-wimey'. That said, while there might be some older/younger character interactions, the Doctors will be mostly linear, with just a bit of my meddling.**

 **Enjoy!**

The Will To Live

Artis found Red Alpha in the clearing next to where he'd first caught a glimpse of her. He was hit with a pang of sadness at finding her on the Children's Grounds. Clearly, the army did not know of her habit of observing the children. He knew it was where she was most peaceful, it seemed fitting that she would try to find that peace in her last moments. He rushed forward to help her.

She was barely conscious. The tail end of an arrow was next to her with the other piece still embedded in her arm. At the sound of rustling leaves, her eyes opened frantically and she scanned her surroundings, finding Artis next to her.

"That poison has no cure." Artis informed her, looking on in pity as she started trembling uncontrollably.

"I will finally die. This cursed life is over. I have no intention of surviving this. No more, no more. Done, this is it." The Soldier blabbered in her delirium.

"I'm here. Red it's me. Do you recognize me?" Artis asked, his voice quivering. As conflicted as he felt about her, nobody deserved to die like this.

The Soldier's eyes seemed to slide in and out of focus, and Artis shook her, trying to bring some lucidity. Her gaze seemed to hone in on him and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"You came, you actually came. After everything I did, you still came." The Soldier said, incredulous. Desperation seemed to take hold of her. "I did not-I was not-I" The Soldier was cut off as her body started shaking uncontrollably and started frothing from the mouth.

As much as the Soldier wanted to die, not regenerate only to be alone, she couldn't bear the thought of dying so disgracefully. Especially since Artis had sought her out. Even if he had come just to kill her, which she doubted he would, she was consumed by a desperate need to die with meaning. To be understood or even forgiven by at least one person for the things she had done.

She could not die. She needed to explain herself and for that she needed to live. Dying would have to be another day and maybe then it would be honorable. She would not tarnish the reputation of her race by leaving such a terrible legacy behind.

"Move back! Artis move back now!" The Soldier shouted in warning, feeling regeneration energy fill her body.

Stunned, Artis jumped back as golden light enveloped Red Alpha and filled the entire clearing. He watched numbly as the being of light ripped out the arrow. The light settled to reveal a creature with chocolate brown face and long wavy hair wearing the same clothes. Eyes shot open to reveal dark brown, almost black eyes. Her appearance was nearly the opposite of Red, with her features seemingly youthful.

It seemed disorientated and shook its head before jumping to its feet, scanning its surroundings and spotting him.

"Artis?" The being asked tentatively.

Unable to take any more, Artis felt his brain shutting down and momentarily wondered if his kinsmen were right in thinking him a coward as he fainted.

o0o

The Soldier rushed to him and checked his life signs. When she was sure he was unharmed, she picked him up into her arms and walked to the transport ship she'd landed on six months ago. The Soldier deposited him in the med bay and put the ship in maximum stealth mode to hide.

Her work was done. She hadn't meant to survive, but a misplaced sense of duty had made her regenerate, and now there was no point in staying in a planet that she had staged a coup in. Maybe a few minutes ago she would have stayed behind to face the rage of the planet's people, but now, this version of her, had a reason to live. More accurately, she didn't want to _die_ like that, ever again. It was horrible, demeaning.

The Soldier silently returned to the med bay, intending to drop Artis at his home and leave quietly.

As she entered the bay, she was disheartened to see him awake.

"So your ship was damaged huh? Looks pretty fine to me." Artis stated sharply, a frown on his face. He turned to her and jolted upon seeing her face. "I wasn't dreaming then. Boogers!"

"What?" The Soldier said, thrown at the unusual expression.

"I'm not allowed to swear in front of the kids, remember Red?" He said, subconsciously falling back to his sheepish smile.

This was not what the Soldier had been expecting. She was waiting for unbridled rage and hatred, maybe even some blows from him but this was too different. Unexpected. He seemed to be his normal awkward self and she wondered if he was perhaps mentally challenged. Oh, that was snippy of her. Was she now going to imbibe those traits into herself?

She shook her head, her thoughts all thrown asunder from the regeneration. Artis, focus on Artis.

"Why did you come looking for me?" The Soldier asked coldly.

"I don't think you get to ask the questions here. Are you Red? Of course you are, but what was that before? Why did you stage that entire façade out there?" The Soldier jerked in surprise. "What, you thought I wouldn't figure it out? You killed so many just to prove a point! And in such a pointless stupid foul way! There's a high chance you did nothing but kill a few hundred people, only to postpone the war to tomorrow. What on Panache were you thinking?! Who do you think you are to interfere like that?" Artis raged, feeling his anger build exponentially till he honestly thought his head would explode or his stomach would turn to mush. Remembering the bodies slaughtered by her, his stomach ejected his meal onto the med bay floor and his anger grew at the injustice of it all.

The Soldier moved to him to help but he shoved her back in spite. "No, don't help! Your kind of help is just horrible. Just answer me!"

"Whatever I tell you, you cannot tell anyone else." The Soldier warned. As much as she felt guilty about what happened, she couldn't risk her haphazard plan failing because of him.

"Uhuh." Artis replied sarcastically. The Soldier considered him carefully. After what had happened today, nobody would want to believe him anyway.

"I am the last Time Lady from the planet Gallifrey. The light made me shed the dying body and created a new one. The Shadow Proclamation sent me here to execute the Latites that set off the bombs that killed the Intergalactic Diplomatic Delegates. But," The Soldier sighed, "I try not to be an executioner. I investigated further and realized a civil war was brewing. I did not think interfering was wise, but I got involved with the locals. With you."

Artis's face stiffened momentarily before relaxing, his firm gaze pinned on her. She continued, "I had a stupid idea. I locked the two rulers in a room together and tried to get them to resolve their issues. You can imagine what happened." The Soldier said, misleading him intentionally. She would not confess to killing them.

Artis's face contorted in horrid disbelief. "You-you locked them in? They aren't little children who were caught misbehaving. You-you gave them a Time Out period?" Artis covered his face with his hands. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

She continued again, as if he hadn't interrupted. "I disposed of their bodies. I thought if word got out that they had both died, then war would break out. But it was clearly futile."

"And so you thought you'd go on a rampage and kill everyone in sight? What does that help with anything?"He accused.

"The one thing that brings people together better than love, is hatred. Stronger than hatred is a common enemy." The Soldier looked anywhere but at him. She already knew the chances of her plan succeeding were slim. But at least the idea of unity was implanted into their minds. They were now aware that they could work together even if it was coerced.

"So you killed people heartlessly for such a slight chance? What is wrong with you? We could have solved our issues without your interference!"

The Soldier's mask of indifference cracked. "I did not think I was interfering."

"Oh really? Then what do you call it?" He seethed.

"I thought I was helping the people I cared about. I did not do this out of some misplaced ideology. I did it because after a very long time, I felt like I belonged somewhere, and I wanted to help."

Artis froze, his face conflicted. "Whatever you feel, you shouldn't have done what you did. The soldiers there might have been fated to die, but they were fighting for something they truly believed in. As much as I hate the Smicks, I know that they fight because of their opinions, but you, _you_ killed them meaninglessly."

"I did not kill all of them." The Soldier interjected, feeling the sting of his words. "I tried my best to only incapacitate the lot of them, stun them if possible with my volt gun. But," the Soldier let out a weary sigh, "despite my best efforts, there were fatalities. And a threat is not considered a threat if it never delivers."

"Is that supposed to make it okay?" Artis countered with distaste.

"No."

"Even if you succeed in your objective, it won't justify what you have done. The people that died today were your fault. That blood can never be washed off your hands. Don't ever repeat something like this again. I only came to tell you that you need to run. Don't come back here ever." Artis looked away from her.

"Very well." The Soldier swallowed, ignoring a sudden chill and emptiness in her chest. "Goodbye Artis. Thank you for…everything."

Artis left the hull and approached the ship's exit, halting when he caught the images of his kinsmen patrolling the area.

"You heard, didn't you Bopy? Our orders are to find Artis, since he lived with that monster. There is no way that creature could have known the things it did without any help. They're going to interrogate him, find out anything he knows. Maybe even execute him." One of the guards gave the other a flask to drink.

"Artis, that useless lump? He doesn't know anything, he's just a fool. I feel sorry for the bloke. He probably just blindly trusted the creature, the idiot that he is." The other guard said pityingly. The flask seemed empty and both stood to refill it with water.

"Yeah? Well that kind of idiocy needs to be punished! It's _his_ fault that he didn't tell us about anything suspicious! That useless piece of existence! Why was he ever born?" The guard spit at the ground in contempt.

Artis stood frozen at the monitor, unable to believe this turn of events.

"You! This is all because of you! What will I do? They're out to kill me!" Artis exclaimed in panicked rage.

The Soldier tried to camouflage her guilt. There was nothing she could say. She had ruined his life.

"I have nowhere to go. What do I do?" Artis paced frantically back and forth, unable to calm himself down.

"Come with me." The Soldier offered tentatively.

"What?" Artis turned to her in shock.

"You can leave with me. If you want, I can leave you at another planet. Or you can come with me." The Soldier elaborated. Leaving with her was his best chance of survival now.

"Did you plan this? Is this some convoluted plan to get anyone to travel with you because you're alone and disturbed?!" Artis bit out accusingly.

"No! Of course not. But what happened is my fault. It is my duty to ensure that you are safe. This is one possible option."

"But my people are dying! How can I just leave like that? I don't know anything! Settlement 16 is the only place I have ever known. I haven't even been to Settlement 15 which is just one league from here. How am I supposed to go to another planet?" Artis exclaimed, incredulous.

"It depends on whether you want to live or not. If you want to live, then we must leave."

Artis tried to calm down so he could think, but he paused as he ran her words through his mind. "What do you mean, _we_. You can still leave without me."

"I am not going to leave you alone to die. Not when you have shown me compassion." The Soldier was resolute to take him away. There was no place for him here, at least till things died down.

Artis jerked in surprise again and he shook his head repeatedly.

"This is too much information. Too much has happened. I need time to think."

The Soldier paused for several moments, trying to give him space to think. But they did not have much time to spare. If he wanted to survive then he either had to leave with her or turn her in. She wasn't going to let the latter happen, so he would have to leave with her.

"If you wish to return later, you can. But we must leave now. " She did not tell him that he would have to vanish for several years before he could even think of returning. "Make your decision quickly Artis."

Artis looked very hesitant, "But where will we go? Do you promise I will return? That you won't abandon me wherever you land?"

"We will first go to the Shadow Proclamation. I will not abandon you Artis. I promise you."

The Soldier activated the cloak mode for her ship before she activated her engines.

It was time to leave.

o0o

The Soldier landed on Triasteroid, warning Artis to stay quiet.

"I can protect you, but you must remain next to me." Artis nodded reluctantly.

"Why are we here?" He asked curiously.

"So that I can resign from the service." The Soldier said quietly. She needed to send the letter and retrieve her few belongings.

"What?" Artis stopped, confused. "Why are you resigning? Despite everything, they're the Galactic police, why would you ever leave them?"

"Because you cannot join me. I would have to leave you behind, abandon you." The Soldier said brusquely, pulling him along.

"Sheesh, you're so irritable. What, did your personality change with your face?" Artis asked mockingly. The Soldier paused then continued walking, not answering him.

The Soldier placed her resignation letter on the Architect's table and descended to the armory. She pulled a complete set of weapons and walked out, while Artis stayed behind, staring dumbfounded at the enormity of the arsenal.

"We are insects to you, aren't we?" He asked, cowed by the display.

"If anything, you should be calling me an insect." The Soldier laughed deprecatingly.

"Well, from one insect to another, that is some massive stingers you've got there." Artis drawled before sneaking out of the Shadow Proclamation with the Soldier.

Artis's head spun. He had just sneaked in and out of the biggest law abiding body in the universe. A thrill flooded him.

o0o

"You know, I don't think I hate you anymore." Artis blurted suddenly, looking up from the stew he was preparing.

"Why not?" The Soldier asked him warily.

Something was changing between Artis and the Soldier.

While they had always been friendly in Panache, there had been an undercurrent of the formalities in their relationship. Artis had by no means forgiven the Soldier for what she had done both to his people and him, but he did, albeit grudgingly, acknowledge that she'd had good intentions. The Soldier had flown them to Krush, the closest habitable planet from Panache and tried to find a place for them to settle for the few years that Artis needed before he could go back.

Artis and the Soldier had built a small cottage in the woods and were, due to lack of familiarity from other inhabitants of Krush, living together. The Soldier, being more knowledgeable about technology, had set out to tend to basic amenities on a regular basis, such as an Electromagnetic radiation powered generator system that merely needed the presence of EM waves to generate electricity and a basic plumbing system that recycled water and disposed of body waste naturally. Artis, being more knowledgeable about nature, had sought out food and water as well as possible ores and other resources that the Soldier could harvest for the cottage.

Somewhere along the way, they had passed into effortless teamwork, and the Soldier found herself tutoring Artis in basic mathematics and physics, while he improved her tracking skills.

The Soldier had been tending to her weapons when the sudden declaration jolted her.

"Well mostly because I'm a very good person. I'm the embodiment of goodness, don't you think?" Artis bragged jokingly. His irresistible toothy smile shone at her and she cursed herself for her weakness to that smile. The Soldier grumbled at his words.

While the Soldier felt she had mostly stayed the same after her regeneration, Artis was of the opinion that she had a bit of a temper. But the Soldier thought that when you spent all your time irritating the person you lived with, it shouldn't be surprising if they got irked.

"You know, as weird as it is to see you acting so different, I think it might be the biggest reason why I don't hate you. I see it as someone else who did it, not you." Artis confessed quietly.

The Soldier stiffened at those words. That didn't sound right. At all.

"It was me. All of it was me. And I do not need your forgiveness." The Soldier snapped, feeling miserable at her own words. That John Smith had been wrong. She should never have interfered. Panache was not her world. Her world was already gone, and she was a drifting homeless killer trying to find any kind of atonement.

Artis looked stung, lashing out. "Don't you regret what you've done? What kind of creature are you?"Artis was aware that they never spoke about this, that this was forbidden territory. But he could not stomach the thought that he was living peacefully with a remorseless killer.

"What does regret have to do with forgiveness?" The Soldier seethed. "There are some crimes that should never be forgiven. I am a soldier, Artis. I have killed people as a way of life. But I have tried very hard not to be a cold blooded murderer. I have only killed when there was no other option. Have I made mistakes? Yes, of course I have! But I will not seek forgiveness for those actions, because then they will be pardoned. Mere forgiveness is cowardly. I need to atone for what I have done. Carry that burden with me forever as a lesson. Try to be better. Protect the weak and kill true evil. Always." The Soldier broke off, her emotions overwhelming her.

Artis looked away from her, feeling a confusing mix of rage, disgust and sympathy. "Why do you have to be the one to do it?" He asked, controlling his turmoil. "What makes you think that you're the special someone who needs to be a misunderstood hero, heroine, whatever. Do you think you are better than everybody else because you are immortal?"

The Soldier gritted her teeth at his words. The way he twisted everything she did, made her actions seem terrible. She was aware that she wasn't perfect, and somehow her attempts at doing the right thing always went up in flames.

"This has nothing to do with my race. I am a soldier Artis; it is wired into the way we think. For us, protecting what we consider sacred is paramount." The Soldier swallowed all her excuses of bungled timelines and the duty she felt as a Time Lady to fix them. He would not understand that she had the ability to perceive timelines. It was why she had never mentioned her abilities to him. Truth be told, the biggest reason she interfered wasn't because of timelines, not anymore. It was because; once upon a time a Time Lord named the Doctor had given his life to do the right thing. Tried to right the injustices he'd seen. There was a poignant **,** poetic rightness to it, from which she could not walk away.

"You're hiding something from me. Do you think you're unreadable? Once someone knows you, you're the easiest person to read, Red." Artis said mockingly.

The Soldier ignored him. "So I take it that you still hate me then?"

"No." Artis bit out. "Make of that what you will." With that he turned off the stove and stormed out of the cottage.

o0o

A fragile peace descended down upon the cottage and despite everything, the Soldier was secretly glad that Artis did not hate her anymore. A few months passed with this tentative peace before Artis made the decision of interacting with the local population.

Krush was a Level 5 planet with intelligent life-forms, the only problem being that they were pre-Enlightenment. They had yet to discover that aliens lived in the universe. But what intrigued Artis the most was that they were a hybrid of beavers and tigers, called Tigvers, who communicated by a series of high-pitched calls. They had a very complex den system that was similar to the maze-like quality of a city and were a highly civilized species.

Their introduction to the Tigvers had gone south, with the both of them regarded as hostile. It was the first time that Artis truly understood what it felt like to be an outsider to a civilization and he felt grudging respect for the Soldier's open mindedness when she dealt with the situation.

The Soldier negotiated a temporary truce, and promised to stay out of their affairs. In recompense for their generosity, she offered to teach them how to build cameras so they could always have surveillance over their borders.

This had made Artis extremely angry, especially since he did not view this development as staying out of their affairs, but he later agreed that it helped them build trust with the locals. With that their isolation from the rest of the planet continued and Artis could feel a restlessness building within him. He was growing tired of the planet and he felt a profound homesickness. He wanted to return to his planet, the smell of Panache trees, the multi-coloured sky and the sound of children playing.

But every time he looked at the Soldier, he felt guilty for what his feelings. No matter how much he missed home, he did not want to leave her behind. Despite all their fights, he felt strong friendship for the Soldier, sometimes something even more. He was aware that if he left her behind, she would be alone. And so he stayed behind on Krush even after five years passed, feeling the restlessness inside him grow.

o0o

"I think I love you." Artis said abruptly, as the Soldier and he strolled along the forest.

The Soldier froze in shock, struck dumb by the announcement. "What?"

"I love you." Artis repeated, staring intensely into her eyes. He knew he had no reason to fear rejection, had known for a while that she loved him. Maybe even known deep down since Panache.

The Soldier felt an indescribable rush with intense disbelief. A thousand years and nobody had told her that, at least not in the sense that she was hoping he meant. She felt the blood pounding in her ears, and she was grateful that she had dark skin otherwise her flush would have given everything away.

"As a friend right?" The Soldier ventured tentatively, feeling her hearts squeeze in terrible anxiety and anticipation.

"No. I know you know what I mean." He tentatively grasped her hands.

The Soldier felt a foolish smile break out on her face. "So?"

"It's only polite to return the sentiment Red." Artis teased lightly, tugging her closer.

"You seem way too confident." The Soldier teased in return, bringing herself closer.

"I have full reason to be. Come on, say it." He whispered against her.

"I love you too." The Soldier returned, the words feeling foreign on her lips. All thoughts disappeared from her mind as Artis sealed his lips against her, gentle and persuasive, just like him.

This, this was heaven.

 **AN: The Doctor in the next chapter! I haven't decided which Doctor she'll see yet, so if you have any requests please leave them in the review.**

 **Thank you for reading! Review please!**


	9. Bittersweet Love

**AN: I confess when I saw the Lion alien from the Maisie Williams episode, I was thrown back especially since it was so similar to my alien. I didn't think my story would actually be so parallel to the ninth series.**

 **Well, hope you like this chapter. It took a lot out of me (7500 words!).**

Bittersweet Love

Ten years passed. The Soldier had never been this happy. It was quiet and peaceful and she rarely fought with Artis. The Tigver community had grown more trusting of them and sent a few of their delegates every few months to make them feel welcome though they always came with an ulterior motive. The Soldier had noticed that something was unsettling Artis, so she tried to pay closer attention to him, but her inexperience regarding social interactions hindered her. Thus, the Soldier found herself waiting, hoping that Artis would eventually confess what troubled him.

The Soldier walked out of the cottage and into a small glade, searching for vegetables. Though Artis usually performed this task, he'd fallen sick a few days ago, and was still recovering from his illness.

As she returned, she spotted a delegation of Tigvers heading to her cottage, and she ran to intercept them.

"Welcome to our home." The Soldier said graciously, smiling warmly.

The Tigvers squeaked in reply. "Thank you for having us again. It's such a pleasure to be here." They moved forward, and she discreetly moved to stand in front of them.

"I must apologize, but we aren't in a state to entertain today. My partner is very sick." The Soldier said softly, but firm so that they wouldn't invite themselves in.

The Tigvers grew irritated, but moved back. To compensate for her rudeness, she quickly replied, "If you are available in four days, then my partner and I will be able to host. We were trading medical knowledge last time; maybe we can talk about artificial intelligence next?

The Tigvers, pacified, exchanged formalities with her before heading back.

Sighing, the Soldier made her way into the cottage to find Artis wide awake, staring at the ceiling, lying haphazardly on the bed.

"They came again? I don't trust them at all. They are clearly just using us. I have a feeling if we refuse them, we won't live to see tomorrow." His dislike and mistrust was apparent, but his tone hinted at something deeper.

"I sent them away. Told them to come back in four days." The Soldier sighed. "Try not to be so harsh, Artis. Every species tries their best to expand their knowledge, and sharing is not that bad, is it? Even they know our knowledge is not endless. I will not be giving away anything too dangerous." She tried to assuage him.

"But what if the knowledge we're giving them becomes a means to something more dangerous? What if they use artificial intelligence in weaponry? No knowledge is without dangers! The Tigvers don't seem to like us very much either. They could just be using us to extract useful knowledge until we have none, and then get rid of us." She glanced at him reproachfully for his suspicion.

"You really do seem to hate this community, Artis. You believe the worst of them." She paused in consideration. "Is something wrong?" She went to prepare vegetables for his soup, taking care to pick the ones he favoured.

Artis stared at her in surprise, "You know, I don't remember you being so understanding of others when I first met you. It seems I rubbed off on you. And your cynicism onto me." He gave a short laugh.

The Soldier gave him a small smile, "Yes well, that is to be expected from two people who have been together for so long. But tell me, have they done something to make you so suspicious? If so, then precautionary steps must be taken."

Artis was wracked with coughs and she moved to ease it with warm water. He stared down at the ground as he spoke, refusing to look at her, "It's not them, not really… It's me. Even people in Panache would do what the Tigvers are doing. It's just…"

"You miss Panache?" She finished for him. He looked up at her tentatively, with hope, and she forced herself to continue, "It is not safe. You must know that. Is that why you have been…"

"Been what? Depressed? I suppose so… Isn't it time we went back? It's been a long time. I don't even think they will remember us. We can start a life there, Red. It's where we belong. This place is just… not where we should be."

She understood how he felt. But going back was a bad idea. She could feel it; her Senses dreaded even the thought. "They would not recognize me, Artis. But _you_ would be in danger. What does it matter where we live as long as we have each other?"

"It does matter where we live, Red! Being together is wonderful but things go beyond just companionship! What kind of identity do we have outside of that? We aren't even welcome in this planet; the Tigvers are only accepting of us as long as we do not cross the border they defined. That isn't what I come from, or even you. We need to _live_ , Red. I want to watch over children, teach them what I know. That is not going to happen here. We can't be isolated like this!" The Soldier could feel the unstated accusation hanging in the air. She was accustomed to being alone, he wasn't.

But still, a bit of melancholy was no reason to lose him to death. She refused to let the only man she ever loved die like that.

"Artis…" She paused. But what could she say? She knew _exactly_ how he felt. She yearned for Gallifrey like nothing else. She wanted to go home, connect with her culture, customs, even just _speak_ her language and have someone _understand._ "Do you want to go to another planet, maybe? Wait it out for a few more years? Panache is not safe, Artis."

"Nowhere is safe, Red! Even if we go to another planet, we'll stay there and find another reason to put it off. I am not getting any younger." A different kind of tension fused the air. These were forbidden topics that both of them thought about, but never dared voice out loud. Not when they had just each other to depend on. Not when splitting-up wasn't a choice at all.

How did one resolve differences of their lifespans? Artis was probably desperate to go to Panache; he was bringing up all the taboo topics. Everything that lay under the surface, but they dared not talk about.

Artis smiled sadly, as if he understood everything that she hadn't said; everything she was thinking. That was a scary thought. He knew her too well. His smile was followed by a wink as he said, "As I mature into a fine man, I want to show off my young partner to everyone. I'll be the envy of all." His smile shrank as he continued, "Maybe the realisation that I don't have much time left has shown me what I really want. Red, I want to grow old in Panache. I want to be among the beautiful expanse of its trees, the children playing, just watching everything grow. Please be with me, Red. There, in Panache."

The Soldier stood immobile, a heavy weight in her heart. She hadn't expected this. She had thought that, on some level, they would drift apart because they were too different; they were different species after all. She had thought he would stay with her in Krush because there was nobody else, but she had not expected him to ask her to stay with him in Panache. Despite everything she had done, he really did love her. How could she refuse him now?

Back to Panache it was then. She would protect him.

"Okay, but let's meet the Tigver's one last time before we leave, let them know they won't be enjoying our _amazing_ hospitality anymore." Artis jumped out from his bed and hugged her. He spun her around, and she laughed at his actions, ignoring the feeling of foreboding.

o0o

The Doctor sauntered out of the Tardis into the curved tree line ahead. River had taken a break from travelling with him and returned to Stormcage, and now he was all alone. The only way to escape the crippling fear inside him was to run. Run to new places, find new wonders and distract himself from his impending death. As long as he avoided Utah, he would be fine.

The Doctor quickly brought his attention back to his surroundings. There were new lands to be explored! He looked around at the purple trees and green grass. Where was this place? It was hard to keep track, but as long as he had the right identifiers, he'd be able to jog his memory and remember the planet.

He strolled leisurely forward, skipping to an imaginary tune in his head. He spotted a settlement ahead. Ha, now to play the planet guessing game! He sauntered into the settlement line and geared himself for his excitement of the day. After all his Sexy had led him randomly here, and weren't randomized adventures his favourite!

He paused upon seeing purple and blue humans in dressed in togas dancing together, engrossed in their festivities.

Oh this was Panache! And during a celebration too! Wasn't this lucky!

The Doctor halted as the identification made his Senses rush with information. The people of this planet had been in civil war, but sudden tragedy had resulted in the end of their enmity. They had stood united against it and remained so since. Afterwards they'd cut off communication to the worlds beyond, but the Doctor didn't mind. This meant no one here would know about the Silence or him.

He ran into the middle of the dances, hoping to join the merriment.

The sounds of weapons being drawn made him pause.

"Wait, wait, wait! Just a minute. I'm just trying to join in on the fun. No threat from me, see." He put his hands up to show he was unarmed, with his index finger pointing in the air, "I'm harmless, I promise."

The weapons nudged him in warning and he started backing away. Clearly, he hadn't been lucky. But what had them so cautious and defensive?

"Aliens are not welcome here! This is the only warning you will receive. Go back and tell your people that Panache will not welcome aliens. We no longer welcome outsiders." A blue humanoid that seemed to be the leader of the ensemble emerged from the wall of soldiers.

The Doctor couldn't help his curiosity, "And why is that? Your planet is post-Enlightenment. You've interacted with aliens for over a thousand years. Nowadays, to move forward, information must be exchanged between civilizations, and your planet is aware of this. So why are _you_ lot suddenly like this? What year is this?"

"This alien is dangerous, Sir. In the profile, the Demon had yellow skin like his. We cannot take any risks. We must kill him!" A purple humanoid declared, joining the blue Leader in discussing his fate.

"Demon? What demon?" This was getting more and more interesting. His self-preservation was now fighting with his insatiable curiosity. If only he could somehow get them to explain…

"We were welcoming once. But a demon soldier came to our lands and took advantage of our generosity. It turned us against one another so that the ensuing chaos would let it enslave us. What happened then will never happen again. We will stand united. We will never allow a chance for outsiders to prey on us again." Another blue humanoid exclaimed.

"Leave while we are merciful, creature." The gun pushed harder against his chest. "If we see you again, you will not survive to tell the tale."

"Alright, alright, I'll leave. But just tell me one thing. " He entreated. This was starting to sound like a megalomaniac who'd been foiled. But what else could it be? A new vengeful species?

His hearts beat faster in excitement at all the possibilities. A new species of alien? Unbidden, a gleeful grin broke out on his face. All that mystery was just waiting to be solved, it made him restless.

"Very well. What is it? And why are you smiling? Ask what you will then leave." The blue humanoid commanded with disgust.

"Tell me the story about the demon. I will leave after that. The other worlds will at least know why you have decided to isolate yourselves. Maybe they'll even know to be careful themselves. How about it?"The Doctor cajoled.

The leader gave him a measured stare before signalling the soldiers to stand back.

The leader sat down and gestured the Doctor to do the same. "This is a story that began twenty years ago when a demon that called herself the Soldier arrived on this planet."

The Doctor froze mid-squat on the floor. "The Soldier!" He cried, alarmed.

"Do not interrupt!" The leader barked. The Doctor tried to calm down and sat, turning his full attention to the leader.  
"The Soldier first claimed to be human and in peril, so we took pity on her and gave her refuge…"

The Doctor listened to the tale in growing horror.

o0o

The Doctor trudged through the forest back to his TARDIS, unseeing in his disbelief and rage.

He couldn't believe this. He couldn't believe this! How! How could she do this? It was ruthless, heartless, and totally unnecessary. She, she was a _demon_.

All this time he'd been shrouded in guilt, thought she'd been justified in everything she'd done to him. He'd thought her callousness had been reserved only for him, so he'd made accommodations, excuses and even forgiven her for everything she'd done despite her not showing the slightest remorse. He'd thought he'd _deserved_ all her actions against him, but to find out that it was _in her nature,_ that she'd done those things because that was what she _was,_ and that it wasn't about revenge for what he'd done; it made him feel like a fool.

The poisonous anger that gave him his moniker of the Oncoming Storm rushed through him. He would no longer show her any compassion. He snorted in incredulity; she'd never wanted it anyway. No more excuses, the next time he met her, he would destroy her. She was solid proof that Time Lords were better dead in this universe.

He felt a pang of sorrow flow through him at the notion. He'd destroyed his entire planet; one more Time Lady wasn't going to make a difference.

The Doctor stopped, collapsing to his knees in the middle of a clearing, a terrible mix of grief and despair filling him.

Why did it always have to be him?

o0o

The Soldier activated Cloaking mode as she landed on the same space as she had last time. "We can disembark now." She said to the ball of excitement next to her. There was a glow to his face that she had not seen in a long time.

They jumped out of the ship and covered the dented grass with leaves. Soon, they had finished and were ready to leave.

The Soldier sighed. Well, here goes nothing.

"What are _you_ doing here?!"

The Soldier stiffened in shock and spun around on hearing Earth English.

The Soldier quickly scanned the man in front of her. He was clearly not a native of Panache, dressed as he was in his tweed jacket and red bow tie. Was he a threat to Artis? But how would he know about Artis? And it did seem like he was talking to her. Why was an earthling here?

Her memories of her horrible deeds on Panache returned, and she grew uncomfortable. She'd claimed to be human till her 'unveiling'; he would have undoubtedly suffered at the hands of the locals.

But Artis came first.

"Who are you, human?" Her Senses didn't seem to agree with the assessment of him being human. But she'd left all her gear in the ship in an attempt to be nonthreatening to the locals. But what did it matter? He looked human. "Why are you speaking in Earth English? Do you not know the local language?" She switched to English for the benefit of the man.

"Oh, that's odd. Am I really speaking English? I suppose the translation matrix stopped working. Better get to fixing that later... but that's not important right now." The Doctor paused, changing back to Lashim. "You, you. What are you doing here? Aren't you the demon of Panache?"

Artis, who'd been confused at the different language, moved quickly in front of her at his words. "That wasn't her. She isn't the Soldier. She's Red. The Soldier was a different woman." Artis lied, giving him a smile to set him off guard.

The Doctor frowned at him then glanced at her before replying. "Red and the Soldier are the same person." He turned to her. "Who is this tag-along, Soldier?"

Artis and the Soldier looked at each other nonplussed, thrown off by his familiarity. "He's my partner." The Soldier said slowly, uncertain about the situation.

"Your partner?" The Doctor glared at the both of them. "So you're the one who helped her kill your people?

Artis was thrown back. "What? I never-!" The Soldier swiftly cut through him.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken." The Soldier lied, in the mind of denying everything. She'd changed faces after all, and she did not know the man in front of her. "This man is my husband," She glanced at Artis as he flinched in surprise. "I am not the Soldier; I am Red, a human from planet Earth." The Soldier felt a pang of sadness as she denied herself. She extended an arm in greeting. "It's nice to meet another human. Who are you?"

The Doctor's face contorted in rage and confusion and he slapped her arm away. "What is this? Some ridiculous act so I'll spare you for the atrocious act you committed? You think I don't know who you are?!" The Doctor felt his toxic fury return. "Red Alpha, the Soldier from Gallifrey! A Time Lady that should never have survived! An insult to Time Lords! A criminal that only knows how to destroy the lives of others! Kills mercilessly, vengefully! Why was it _you_ that survived the Time War?" The Doctor despaired, spit spraying out in his fury. "You disgust me! I will never forgive you! You deserve to die! The universe doesn't need any more psychopaths!" He raged, and he moved forward and shook the Soldier, who stood there stunned, wounded by his words. "I will kill you. I killed them all, so you are nothing to me!" The Doctor cried, his voice cracking in his fury and misery.

Alarmed, Artis snapped out of his shock and pushed the Doctor away from the Soldier. "Who are you? Why are you doing this to her? What has she ever done to you?" Artis demanded, standing protectively in front of her.

"Don't interrupt! You don't know anything! She's pure evil! She's been lying to you about everything! She knows who I am! How can she not?" The Doctor gestured frantically, glaring at the Soldier.

"I-I-" The Soldier stared at the Doctor, shocked and hurt. She did not know him, but based on his words, he clearly knew her. This was a man from her future, and by his descriptions, a future where she had gone mad. A trill of fear coursed through her, was that what she was to become in the future? A murderous psychopath? No, no! This had to be something personal! She couldn't accept that she would be a monster. Whatever she did to him in the future, she could now show him her remorse.

The Soldier gave the Doctor a regretful smile. "I am sorry, you were right, I am the Soldier. But if you know that I am a Time Lady, then you should also know this. Our timelines are not synchonized."

Artis frowned in confusion, "What do you mean by 'timelines'?" He interrupted, but the Soldier squeezed his hand gently to silence him. The Doctor's face contorted in disbelief.

"I genuinely do not know who you are." The Soldier explained her voice soft. "If I have wronged you in the future, _your past_ , then please accept my apologies. But do not drag my partner into this. He is innocent, a good man. Whatever your problem is with me, I will accept any punishment you deem fit."

Artis balked at her words. "No! What the hell! You didn't _do_ anything!" He cried bewildered. "What haven't you told me Red?! What are you hiding from me? After everything we've been through, what aren't you telling me?" Artis demanded, panic and dread filling him.

The Doctor looked between the two of them, confusion now diluting his fury. He moved towards the Soldier, stopping a hand's breadth from her. He gazed at her intensely, evaluating her sincerity.

"You don't know who I am? You really don't know who I am?" He repeated, shooting her a sharp assessing gaze.

"No, I do not." The Soldier replied firmly.

The Doctor drew back, the confusing mix of anger, panic and relief taking a toll on him. "Have you ever heard of the Doctor?" He asked slowly, measuring her.

The Soldier jolted in surprise, running her eyes through his entire form, her mind racing at the possibility.

 _What if…_

"Yes, but that was a long time ago. He wore brown coats and black jackets then." A smile filling her features in remembrance.

The Doctor's face contorted in anguish at her smile. She knew him. And the smile on her face! She liked him, had a good opinion of him. He was filled with agony. Where had it all gone wrong? No, he knew the answer to that. This was early for her; she hadn't been lying. All those things he'd just accused her of, how could he destroy this good regard of him so soon? Heartbreak suffused him. He would not reveal his identity yet.

"Are you-?" The Soldier asked hesitantly, hope filling her face despite the bad start that they had. "Are you the Doctor?"

The Doctor gazed at her, and the Soldier couldn't decipher the complex mix of emotions in his eyes. "No." He denied. "I'm not the Doctor. My name is John Smith."

The Soldier's face contorted in confusion. Another John Smith? What were the odds of that? But it was one of the most common names on Earth. "How do you know of the Doctor?"

"How does anyone?" He diverted. "He appeared in my life then was gone in a blink of an eye."

The Soldier let out a small laugh. "Isn't that the story of his life? So he's alive then? He didn't pass away on the moon in 2007?" The bubbly feeling of hope filled her.

The Doctor looked at her in surprise. "That was you?" He gathered himself together. "I'm sorry I wouldn't know. But it's likely he survived. After all, he's an expert at evading death."

A radiant smile filled the Soldier's face. There was hope.

"Red, who is this man? I thought you didn't know him." Artis interrupted, feeling anger at the way this man easily stole Red's attention. "What do you mean by timelines?"

The Soldier hesitated. She still did not want him to know about her ability to wade through time. About the Vortex Manipulator that she had from the Shadow Proclamation. He would demand that she fix her mistakes, he wouldn't understand that it was against the laws of time.

"Some people have the ability to travel through time." She explained hesitantly. "I am a Time Lady; this means my species mastered the art of Time Travel. But when you time travel, everything gets mixed up. So when I meet someone for the first time, it is not necessary that it will be their first. They could have met me a long time ago, when I was older. That was what I meant by timelines not being in sync. Every person has a unique timeline, and for a large part, most timelines remain in sync. But occasionally, timelines can be out of sync and this happens largely to time travellers and those who interact with them. So while Mr. Smith knows me, I do not know him. For him, it is in his past, but for me our interactions will be in the future. Do you understand?"

"You can travel through time?" Artis murmured, shocked.

"No, not yet. But it seems I will sometime in the future." The Soldier lied, unwilling to give him the temptation.

The Doctor shook her arm like a child, impatient with their conversation. The Soldier turned to him, surprised at his behaviour.

"Was it you?" He demanded, still unable to reconcile the Soldier in front of him with the one he knew. He stood tense, expecting the worst.

"Was what me?" She asked in confusion.

"Are you the demon that the inhabitants of Panache refer to?" He demanded with restraint.

The Soldier fell silent, returning the Doctor's intense stare.

"No, she isn't. It wasn't her, it was someone else." Artis defended, unwilling for their ruse to fail so quickly.

The Doctor ignored him. The Doctor stared intently at her. Her silence spoke volumes.

"It was me." The Soldier admitted.

"What are you doing?" Artis exclaimed in despair. He pulled her towards him, anger filling him at her sabotage. How could they stay here if she was going to admit what she'd done? Was she doing this on purpose? Did she want to run away with this other man and leave him to deal with the consequences?

"He already knows, Artis." the Soldier tried to explain.

"No he doesn't! He doesn't know anything!" He denied furiously. How would he be able to stay at Panache now? Everything was over!

"What is there to know?" The Doctor cut in coldly. "She slaughtered your people, and you're a blinded coward that's defending her, refusing to accept the truth."

The Soldier felt her retort dry up at his callous words. Artis took in her wounded expression and felt a confusing mix of satisfaction and righteous fury. She'd destroyed their chances of staying here, but he knew deep down that she was trying to do damage control. He was all that she had, he reminded himself.

"You don't know anything." Artis said firmly to the Doctor. The Doctor gazed at him, actually _seeing_ him for the first time. "I love her. I love her despite everything she's done. And what happened then, was more complicated than the locals knew. The atrocities that the Smicks and Latites were committing were growing out of control. They all had their reasons, but Red stepped in to stop the senseless slaughter."

"That's not what I heard. The locals said _she_ was the one who did the senseless slaughtering," the Doctor interrupted. Despite himself, a small hope rose within him. It could be possible that she had been misunderstood. If that was true, then he wouldn't have to…

"I did. I presented myself as a greater threat than their perceived threats. It was the only way I could find to end their enmity. Theirs was the kind of hatred that ended civilisations and planets, and I was too invested not to interfere. As another John Smith once said, you cannot walk away from the ones you love when they need you most."

"Another John Smith?" The Doctor repeated, confused, a feeling of dread enveloping him. Had he led her to do this?

"An old man, not you." The Soldier clarified, waving her hand dismissively.

The Doctor stood there, finding it difficult to digest all this information. She had killed them, but apparently she'd had noble intentions. She seemed remorseful, but she had killed _so many._ How long would he sympathise with the perpetrators and leave the victims hanging? No, what would Amy say? What the Soldier had done was wrong, but in the end, her method had produced results. He should be better, show compassion. As long as she remained peaceful, didn't kill anymore, showed willingness to change, then there was hope. That was what Amy would say. More importantly, he didn't want to kill the only Time Lady in the universe despite everything.

Disgust filled him as he gazed at the Soldier, and pity filled at him at the thought of what her life must have been like, for her to believe that violence was the only way to attain peace. But he wasn't untainted either, and he couldn't fault her for trying to find peace for her actions.

"Why are you here?" The Doctor asked, gazing at the Soldier carefully, pointing his finger at the ground.

Artis answered instead. "I wanted to return home, live out the last stretch of my life here."

"They won't welcome you back." The Doctor warned. "They know all about you, and it'd be a miracle if you survived beyond the first five minutes in the settlement."

"We're going to claim that we killed the Soldier," the Soldier elucidated. She withdrew her red cloak from the bag. "We'll present this to them as evidence."

"Why are _you_ doing all this?" The Doctor asked again gesturing wildly, unable to look away from the Soldier. It was the same face, yet there was such a drastic difference in personality.

"I just want a normal peaceful life, Mr. Smith. Whatever you might know about me, this has always been true. I want to spend all the time I have left with the man I love." The Soldier smiled, trying to convince him of her sincerity.

"You can't go around shooting at whomever you want Soldier. If you want a peaceful life, then _you_ need to be peaceful. It's not easy, but try living a life where violence isn't the first answer, the first response." The Doctor lectured sombrely, pointing repeatedly at her.

"I know." The Soldier said gravely. "I'm not a violent person Mr. Smith. I am a soldier; I protect what is dear to me."

"Call it what you will. You need to dial it down. Find _non-violent_ solutions to problems." The Doctor interrupted stubbornly.

"Fine." The Soldier acquiesced, swallowing her reservations to his statement. She needed to do damage control, and placating this man was the simplest solution. "All I ask is that you do not sabotage our attempt in living a normal life."

"I'll do you one better." The Doctor finally smiled, the smile reaching his ears, but not his eyes. "I'll help you get settled in."

"No that isn't necessary-"The Soldier began, but Artis placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Thank you. Your help is much appreciated." Artis agreed, aware that having a third party would lend credibility to their story. He would be able to stay home, and with Red. A long absent feeling of contentment finally returned, and coldness in his heart that he'd been unaware of, melted.

"Not a problem." The Doctor dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Now let's head off to my favourite place, the place of almost certain death!" The Doctor twirled around the way he came and gestured them forward with his hands. "Come along, not-Ponds!"

The Soldier and Artis exchanged a glance and the Soldier sighed in surrender.

The Soldier watched the man in front, unable to remove her eyes from him. Something about him rung familiar and she couldn't dismiss the way her Senses tingled slightly at him.

Artis watched quietly as Red stared unceasingly at the stranger, feeling doubt and insecurity rise through him. He had never doubted the Soldier's dedication to him. She had never put anyone before him, but the way this stranger drew Red in, made him uncomfortable and he disliked it.

Artis shook his head. They hated each other. There was nothing to worry about.

0o0o

"Why have you come back alien? You were warned about the consequences of not leaving!" Leader Sixteen, the new President's words were followed by hostile soldiers approaching surrounding them.

"Well I have a gift for you lot! And some great news. Everybody loves great news, don't they?" The Doctor spun and extended his arm exaggeratedly to present the new arrivals. The confusion on the Latites and Smicks turned to outright anger as they saw Artis emerge from the trees with an alien.

"I told you, this alien was dangerous! He is working with Artis!" A purple Smick yelled out in fury at the blue Latite Leader. The aim of the weapons quickly shifted to Artis and his companion.

"Let's not rush into things you'll regret later. The story that Artis has to say will definitely change your lives. Forever. In a good way though. Did I mention that?" The distrust and anger was tangible and the Doctor quickly indicated for the two to come forward, "Artis, it's better for you to get started, _before_ I mess things up." The Doctor hissed in a loud whisper.

"I finally killed the Soldier. I was able to kill that demon, but it was this alien that saved me," The other alien stepped forward and was the picture of a submissive wife. Had Artis married an _alien,_ an _Earthling_? This was unacceptable. But the story didn't make sense.

"Who is this alien, Artis?" The Leader interrupted his voice coated with disgust, "Is this your partner? In the same way that _demon_ was?"

"What?! _No!_ I killed that demon, with my own bare hands and took _great pleasure_ from it!" Artis's hands clenched tightly, his viciousness all too real."I need to explain this properly. Just give me a chance to explain."

He was met with silence, and before they could refuse, he continued, "The demon was injected with poison when it cornered me and demanded that I heal it. Upon my refusal, it abducted me and kept me captive on its ship. It took me to another planet and kept me prisoner until this woman saved me. We both plotted to kill the demon, which had managed to neutralize the poison using resources from the new planet. I waited and watched." Artis's voice grew dark with agony, remembering the image of her slaughtering _so many_. It wasn't that difficult to bring venom into his voice, "Red brought in an illegal strain of virus from the military facility she worked at, and I introduced it into the demon. Watched it die slowly and painfully." A disturbing smirk twitched his face and an unstable glint touched his eyes, born from his own struggle of reconciling the events that had transpired.

His story was met once again met with silence but there was uneasiness in some of the faces and glowing pride in others. The Leader was disquieted at the change in Artis; he was once the most compassionate of them all, but had turned into this _._ It certainly lent credibility to his story.

The Doctor's gaze had been fixed unwaveringly on the Soldier throughout the story and he caught a flicker of despair in her eyes. He had to quickly turn his eyes away, discomfited at her momentary display of emotion. He had never seen her show such complex reactions. This was the Soldier when she still displayed her emotions. He felt like he was intruding on something very private. The all too familiar guilt plagued him as it often did whenever he met her. But it wasn't purely guilt. If it was, he would have run like he always did. It was rather a mess of emotions; sympathy, overwhelming relief that he wasn't alone and, just maybe, a smidgen of affection.

In some ways, it had been unavoidable. She was the last living Time Lady. Who else was left from Gallifrey? Every time he met her, his relationship grew increasingly more complicated with her. Stupid Amy and Rory for making him notice domestics.

But what kind of expert was he on relationships? The complexity that was River was enough to make even him dizzy. His future _wife_ was going to kill him. If only the love stories of Time Lords weren't so tragic. If his own story wasn't proof enough, he could smell another tragedy cooking right in front of him.

He sighed, empathy for the Soldier rushing through him. He would ensure that the Soldier and her partner were happy before he left. This could even help him win the Soldier's compassion in the future. Perhaps even remind her that he had helped her with her happiness.

Maybe he could even stop her transformation? It wasn't a fixed point. At least he didn't think so. But he quickly dismissed the idea. The transformation was inevitable. And he certainly deserved it.

He derived a masochistic pleasure from her; her hatred. Her sole focus on him. The kind of attention that he had previously only received from the Master. He _needed_ to be punished for what had done on Gallifrey, either by the madness of the Master or by the hatred from the Soldier.

He snapped out of his musings and shifted his gaze away from the Soldier as Artis was grabbed by the guards.

The suspicious Smick from before listened to his communicator as he aimed his gun at Artis, "We just received information of a new dangerous disease that's spreading quickly. It is caused by a strain of viruses that do not exist in the Alevora system. It can't be a coincidence that your arrival here coincided with the new disease. Your _alien_ friend worked for a military facility, right? The one from which she stole a virus to kill the demon?"

The three of them quickly exchanged looks, helpless. The Time Lords did not resist as they were taken away. Artis' protests of innocence fell on deaf ears as they were handcuffed and imprisoned in a cell. The Doctor's proclamations of being able to help were also ignored.

o0o

Days passed into weeks until finally the Soldier was dragged from her cell into an interrogation room.

The Soldier, for her part, was calm. But her distrust of the man named John Smith grew the longer she spent time with him in the cell. His story did not add up. The Soldier and Artis were not the carriers of any virus despite their story, which left only him. His appearance was sudden and had no satisfactory explanation. She had invented enough stories herself to know which were false and John Smith was certainly lying.

The Soldier felt a headache approaching from the lack of nutrition. Whatever distrust the man had inspired, she could not deny that they had formed a tentative friendship inside the cell. It was to be expected, they had been locked together for so long that silence was not an option.

She closed her eyes as she analysed their accusations in the interrogation room. But her mind drifted. She did not know what _exactly_ Smith was hiding, but this situation did not put him in a favourable light. He could be the distributor of the virus. If only her Senses didn't twitch uncontrollably in his presence. The distance from Smith at the moment definitely helped in giving her clarity. Her Senses were clearly reacting to the differences in their timelines. His foreknowledge of _her_ future. That was it, right? Not because he was a Time Lord, the Doctor?

She shook away her wayward suspicions and focused on the room around her. She knew the general gist of their accusations. The Soldier tried to get into character as the alien partner of Artis, which technically she _was_ , but the image they had had of her was a subservient wife who'd grown a backbone for her love.

"I did not introduce the virus. But if you could show me the strain, I can tell you if it actually came from my planet. It is possible that it was transmitted through me, but if you are not sure of its source then you will never be able to cure it. But I cannot help you unless you _show me_."

A flash of purple blurred in her vision as she was harshly slapped across the face. "Arrogant alien! _How dare you?_ We have experts that are infinitely more intelligent than _you_ , a lowly female military cleric."

"I would not be alive if you had already found the cure. Nevertheless, my offer still stands. Consider this. My knowledge of diseases goes beyond the confines of this planet. Even if it's just a different perspective, you can use me."

Leader Sixteen, the leader of the settlement she'd stayed in, entered the room. "Bring her and the two other prisoners as well."

She was pulled along a white corridor into a hospital ward. The Doctor and Artis soon joined her in donning the quarantine suit. John Smith looked put out at having to wear the safety suit, but he gave her a childish grimace, as if it was her fault, before he disgruntledly put it on.

"You definitely _don't_ need to wear the quarantine clothing, _Time Lady_. People on Gallifrey are immune to most diseases." The Soldier gave him a cutting glare to shut him up. How did this Smith know so much about her? She hadn't even told Artis these details yet. How did this man know so much?

It made her angry and she firmly readjusted her quarantine suit to show her rebellion as she said, "One can never be too sure. Best to take all precautions possible, especially if it is a new strain."

Smith did not give her a second glance as he rushed into the ward. Artis and her trudged behind him with the guards' guns pointed at them in warning.

"What _is_ _this?_ " The horror on John Smith's face was reflected on Artis and the Soldier. "This is flesh-eating bacteria infused with a more common strain of sickness. But what? What could it be?" John Smith circled the bed of the patient, a Latite child barely at the cusp of adulthood.

John Smith took a sample of the blood before he quickly hurried to the lab. He seemed unaware of the guards and ardently focused on his experiments. The Soldier almost got the impression that he _enjoyed_ the entire ordeal. He even skipped or exclaimed in short bursts of joy as he made one discovery after another.

The Soldier observed him from a distance. If he knew she was a Time Lady, why hadn't he asked her to solve the problem? He took charge as if _he_ knew more than _her,_ a Time Lady, as if he was in the business of habitually landing in dangerous situations. She was getting more suspicious of him by the minute. What was her link with John Smith? Was he unaware of the extent of knowledge available to Time Lords? She huffed at her own analysis. He even knew about Time Lord immune systems. He definitely knew too much. What if he was…

He took a sample of the antidote and injected it into the child. They all waited with bated breath.

Nothing happened.

"Now _that_ is new. First time absolutely _nothing_ has happened. How do I save you? How do I cure you of a deadly cold?" Smith muttered as he drew closer to the Latite, trying to see beyond the quarantine helmet. "This is _useless._ I need to remove this, this stupid _suit!_ I can't tell a thing! I need to be able to smell the virus." As he went to remove his suit, the guns moved to his direction.

"That is enough. You." A gun was pointed at the Soldier. "It's your turn. You were the only one given clearance to diagnose this disease, in the first place. Do your duty and save this child. Then we will believe your story. Otherwise, you will die."

Smith reluctantly made space for her. She had no intention of doing this with this man hovering over her. Her Senses would be bothering her and she just did not like his proximity. He wasn't Artis. She told him to sit down, which he reluctantly did after shooting her dirty looks. He behaved like such a child!

She moved closer to the patient. As she drew closer, she recognised the disease almost instantly.

She grew pale and her hands shook inside the suit.

This was engineered when she was working for them. She had seen this strain when poring over their armoury.

This was from the Shadow Proclamation.

 **AN: I realise that my formatting is a little dull and that there are some mistakes, so if there is anyone who'd like to beta for me, please let me know.**

 **Also, please give me feedback regarding the Doctor. I'm not sure whether I've managed to capture him. Any advice/criticism would be extremely appreciated.**

 **Please review!**


	10. Frozen in place

**AN: Enjoy the chapter!**

Frozen in place

The Soldier stared in muted shock at the adolescent boy lying motionless on the bed. Why? Why would the Shadow Proclamation do something so cruel? They were the law-keepers of the universe not cold-blooded murderers. No one understood that distinction, that very thin line, better than the Soldier. The Shadow Proclamation didn't have the authority or the clearance to prosecute innocent species, and even if one agent within the organization went rogue, the Architect would act swiftly to correct them.

So _why_ were they doing this? Rather, the important question was, _what was she going to do about it?_ Despite her previous affiliation with the Shadow Proclamation, she did not have the power to override this judgement. She needed more information.

The Soldier quickly turned to face Leader Sixteen and the guards. "What happened between Panache and the Shadow Proclamation?"

"What do you mean?" Leader Sixteen asked, glaring at her insolence.

"This disease is used by the Shadow Proclamation to punish civilizations for crimes against the organization. What happened?" The Soldier demanded, feeling anxiety well up in her. The Doctor jolted in sudden realization at her words which she ignored.

"Nothing! This is the Soldier's fault! We reported the crimes she committed to the Shadow Proclamation, and they blamed us! They said our planet had broken too many rules! They didn't believe us when we told them that the Soldier slaughtered our people in cold blood. The Soldier reported lies to the Shadow Proclamation, saying how she couldn't bear to complete her mission out of compassion. What rubbish! The Shadow Proclamation sent a psychotic soldier to investigate the Intergalactic Diplomatic Delegation that was attacked and we were exploited! All that happened is their fault! So we took our revenge and destroyed the local Shadow Proclamation agency and its resources." Leader Sixteen spat out spitefully.

Oh Rassilion, what had she done? But how could she have predicted this outcome? The only thing she could do now was damage control. She tried to set her guilt and horror aside to handle this horrid situation.

"Tell me! Is this disease because of you? Do you know the cure?" Leader Sixteen demanded his face full of accusation.

"Like I said, this is retribution from the Shadow Proclamation. This has nothing to do with the three of us." The Soldier repeated calmly, having no intent of telling him the truth, about how it was all _her_ fault. "But on the plus side I can make the cure." The Soldier paused, gathering the required supplies as she elaborated, "Unlike every other pathogen, this strain of virus gets stronger if you try to create a cure from itself. Calcitriol, calcidiol and citric acid need to be fed to the patients every three hours. The immune system can take care of the rest." She injected the three compounds and moved back, then turned to watch the Leader carefully.

"What? It's that easy?" the Doctor yelped in disbelief. "Vitamin D and Vitamin C? Well, I knew that." He grumbled looking put off that the Soldier had created the cure.

"It's because the more advanced a species gets, the more reluctant they are to endure hardship longer than necessary. Very few people would take such a slow route to recovery, but it's the only cure that exists for this disease." The Soldier explained, trying to contain her irritation at his immaturity. It was like the man was in his own world, oblivious to the undercurrents in the room.

"Well then!" the Doctor announced, throwing off his momentary sullenness. He raised his hands in the air and spun around to face his captors. "We've done as you asked. Now, uphold your end of the bargain. Let Artis and his wife stay here. They both endured a lot so that they could return home."

"Wait a moment." The Leader cut him off, turning to the Soldier, "How do you know this is the work of the Shadow Proclamation? Were _they_ the military organization you worked for?" He growled, his eyes narrowing in sudden suspicion.

"No, of course not!" Artis cried out, hurrying to her defense. "She worked with the human police, and was a sub-inspector when she resigned." He lied, hoping their cover story would convince them.

"It's why I know how they operate." The Soldier added, collaborating with the ruse.

"Then if you have so much information about them, you can definitely stay. This act of cruelty will not go unanswered! You will help us destroy them!" Leader Sixteen ordered, pacing in his vehemence.

"No." Both the Doctor and Soldier cried out simultaneously. The Soldier turned to him in surprise, noting the significant change in his demeanor. He stood tall and forbidding, his face full of warning.

"I have been quiet and accommodating of everything you've done so far," the Doctor began, straightening up with grim determination lining his body. "I was quiet because I _understood._ Withdrawing away from other planets after a horrible tragedy, that's fine! Slaughtering the members of the Shadow Proclamation for their misjudgement, _not_ okay but understandable, especially since they started it. But now? What you're doing now is just pure stupidity! If you're worried about the Shadow Proclamation acting further, I'll deal with it, I promise. But if you take arms against _the Intergalactic Police Force,_ then _nothing_ will remain of your planet. Do you understand me? You have no chance against them! And you don't need it because they _can be reasoned with!_ Just sit down and _talk to them!_ Why does nobody bloody _do that?_ "

"My people are wronged, the children grievously ill, and you want me to sit down and _talk_ to the perpetrators?" The Leader bristled, clenching and unclenching his fists in an attempt to contain his anger.

"Yes! Because think of the cost if you don't!"Smith retorted, pleading. The Soldier stared at him, in a trance. How was he doing this, this heartfelt speech that had the power to change people's minds?

"You expect me to trust a bunch of aliens with the fate of my planet?" The Leader asked, after a pensive moment, his rage cooling down.

The Soldier knew that despite his recent xenophobic tendencies, Leader Sixteen remained a good man. Or at least a good Leader. She stepped forward, smiling a tentative smile.

"You can go negotiate with them yourself if you prefer. I can help you with the meeting if you want." She offered before adding her own encouragement. "Panache has been an intergalactic hub for over a thousand years, and sealing off the world due to a misfortune will be horrible. Don't let one errant _dead_ soldier from a forgotten race ruin the glory and wonder that is Panache."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." The Doctor said with a brilliant smile.

The Leader looked at all of them carefully before releasing a tired sigh. "I'll consider what you have said." He turned to Artis. "A deal is a deal. You can stay here with your wife. But both of you will be assisting with the recovery and be under constant watch."

"But-" Artis nudged the Soldier into silence.

"Very well. We accept." He nodded, feeling a rush of happiness at his consent.

"Ha-ha! Well there you go! Mission accomplished!" the Doctor cried out in relief, clapping his hands together in joy.

The three prisoners were released from their confines and the Leader escorted them to the entrance in silent apology. They exited the door and the group stood outside, The Doctor, Artis and the Soldier basking in the open air after the prolonged confinement.

"Well then, my work here is done." The Doctor stated with a genuine smile.

The Soldier lifted a brow. "And what work was that?" She asked, her voice lightly teasing.

"I think he meant rambling his brains out." Artis continued, ganging up on the Doctor with the Soldier. "He's mad after all." Artis teased him, a mischievous twinkle filling his eye.

"No, I'm not!" He denied childishly. "Well actually I am, but that doesn't matter." He said, waving his hand dismissively. His face turned serious. "You have an important task ahead of you, and it's important that you don't fail." He stated, staring at Artis intensely.

"Don't worry, we won't. We'll take care of the inhabitants of this planet. Together." Artis said, a smile filling his face as he wrapped his arms around the Soldier.

"Yes, that's all good. But that's not what I meant. Keep her happy. I know everything is really complicated between the two of you, but take care of her Artis. I already know that Red will make you happy." A warm smile filled the Doctor's face. "Red Alpha, I guess this is goodbye."The Leader who had been politely looking away to give them privacy suddenly stood at attention.

"What did you just call her?" The Leader interrupted, turning abruptly to face the Doctor.

"Red, Red Alpha." The Doctor repeated, confused as to why there was growing horror on the Leader's face.

 _ **I am only a soldier, the Soldier."**_

" _ **I am Red Alpha. I am a human from Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, coordinates 32.4sigma33phi54."**_

The Leader turned to the Soldier in fear, and instinctively the Soldier knew that _he knew._ Leader Sixteen had been the first and only Latite she had given her full name to apart from Artis.

"You! It's you! You're the Soldier!" He cried out, pointing his trembling finger at her in fear. "How?! How is that even possible! Demon!"

"Wait, no!" Artis cried out, his hands held out entreatingly. "She's not the Soldier! It's just her name!"

Leader Sixteen pulled a gun from the guard standing next to him, his face full of dreaded certainty as he took aim. The Soldier watched, frozen, unable to act for the first time in her life as time slowed down and the gun fired, the bullet heading straight for her. She watched, frozen, as Artis moved instinctually in front of her, and a spray of blood coated her face. She watched, frozen, as Artis let out a short cry before collapsing to the ground, unmoving, as blood flowed unceasingly out of him. She watched, frozen, as the life disappeared from Artis's eyes, now only an empty blue husk.

She remained frozen, even when realization crashed through her.

Artis was dead.

The Soldier collapsed on to her knees in front of him. The sounds around her turned into buzzing. She could register scraps of words, but they held no meaning. Nothing did.

"-not the Soldier! If she was, you'd be dead-!"

The Soldier felt a crippling pressure in her lungs. A familiar anguish arrested her breath away. But never before had she ever felt such a ripping pain in her heart. Artis. He had loved her. Truly loved her, despite everything. The most compassionate man she had ever met. The only one who had it in him to love a thing like her.

"-will leave! Just leave us alone!"

"-done enough!"

A horrible wounded grief-ridden cry suddenly rung out and everything went quiet. The Soldier was momentarily confused until she realized the sound was coming from her. She wrapped her arms around Artis's body, uncaring of the blood staining her. Her vision blurred as tears flooded her eyes.

"Artis, get up! Get up please! Don't leave me alone! Don't leave me alone!" She pleaded, anguish filling her. "I love you, please, I love you. Don't do this, get up. Get up, please!"

She felt someone place a hand on her shoulder, and she jerked it away. She shook the body, and she watched as it shook lifelessly, like a doll. The pain, anguish and despair inside her rose like a tidal wave, until suddenly she turned numb. She dropped Artis's body onto the ground and got up.

She looked up at Leader Sixteen, who sized her up carefully and armed himself.

 _Kill._ But Artis wouldn't have wanted that. This had happened because of _her._ The bullet had been meant for _her_. The perpetrator of all this misery wasn't the Shadow Proclamation or the inhabitants of Panache. It was _her_.

 _She deserved to die._

But Artis came first.

All he had ever wanted was to live life happily, play with the children and have a family of his own. He had wanted to stroll amongst Panache's trees, enjoy nature and live life to the fullest.

She bent down, lifting his lifeless body into her arms. This body wouldn't embrace her again. He wouldn't ever kiss her again. His smile. His irresistible warm crooked smile. Her first love in a thousand years. How would she ever live without it?

 _She wouldn't have to._

She started walking into the forest, carrying Artis's body with her. She saw from the corner of the eye as Smith approached the Leader again, moving away from her and placating the Leader. She didn't care about any of those technicalities. Nothing mattered. Only Artis. Artis was hers, and she was going to keep him with her until she died.

 _ **Red, I want to grow old in Panache. I want to be among the beautiful expanse of its trees, the children playing, just watching everything grow. Please be with me, Red. There, in Panache.**_

She stopped as she remembered his words. It didn't matter to her where she died, but it did to Artis. She turned and started walking in the direction of the clearing where they had first met, the Children's Grounds, a little ways off from where her ship was parked.

She saw from the corner of her eyes as Smith ran up behind her, his face twisted in agonized sympathy. He opened his mouth, and the Soldier felt a deadly irritation flare. But thankfully he closed it.

The Soldier was aware that everything that had happened was her fault. Her actions had directly led to these consequences. Her hasty kidnapping, her cruel slaughter, even her resignation from the Shadow Proclamation. She now understood why the Time Lords had lauded inaction and indifference to other civilizations' suffering. The cost was too high.

The Soldier reached the clearing and placed Artis's body on the ground. She watched his lifeless face and felt a horrible pain flare up.

 _No, there was no reason to feel pain. Just a bit longer._

The Soldier retreated into the ship and dug through compartments, looking for what she needed. Smith followed close behind. She needed to get rid of him otherwise he would stop her from what she was about to do.

Smith knew her in the future. She halted her movements.

 _History can be rewritten._ She'd be damned if she let him interfere with what she was about to do. Her hands clasped around the item she had been searching for. A lighter.

She picked up the tub of fuel and exited her ship. Anyways, Smith wouldn't stop her. Even he thought that she was an evil being that only created misery. A being that brought death wherever she went.

Upon seeing her with the items, the Doctor blocked her path.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, apprehensive of her actions. He was wary of her composure. This was eerily similar to the Soldier he knew.

"Cremating his body. Artis wanted nothing more than to return to Panache, so I'm dispersing him into Panache." The Soldier replied monotonously, dripping the accelerant onto Artis's body and setting it aflame. The burning of his body became too much to watch, so she tightly shut her eyes. No, how could she not watch his last moments? She opened her eyes again, unable to stop the tears that trickled out.

The Doctor watched her, worried about what she was going to do next. He had never had to deal with the Soldier this far gone.

"What will you do now?" He asked tentatively.

"Nothing. You have to do the rest." The Doctor looked at her in confusion until she withdrew a disintegration gun.

"What? Wait what are you doing?" He moved back in alarm, not liking the conclusion he was reaching.

"Smith, listen to me. After I am gone, you need to burn my body. A Time Lord body is a precious wondrous thing, and a dangerous thing to fall into enemy hands. You must burn my body." With that, she lifted the gun unflinchingly to her head.

"No, no stop!" The Doctor yelled, grabbing her hand to stop her.

They both struggled for a brief moment before the Soldier swiftly jerked him away. "Do not think you can stop me. Stay away!" She growled out scathingly, a dangerous warning flashing through her eyes.

The Doctor ignored her warning and jumped on to her, pushing her to the ground in an attempt to restrain her. "What do you think you're doing? Do you think Artis would have wanted this?"

"What do _you_ know about what he would have wanted? I have nothing left, nothing!" She cried, but did not move to harm him. She was reluctant to have her last action alive be hurting someone. _No more._

"What nothing? Everybody goes through loss! You are not the only person in the world to have lost someone! There's an entire universe out there! You'll recover; you'll find something else to live for! Stop this!" The Doctor pleaded, surprised that he hadn't been thrown off yet.

"No, no, no please I do not want to hurt you. Get off me please! Everything, everything was my fault! I could bear with it before because I lived for him. For Artis. But he is gone now! I have nothing! Please let me die! I am the last of my kind! There is nobody left! You have no idea what it is like, being all alone in the world! Please, I beg you, let me die!" The Soldier begged, her restraint gone, eyes closed and tears pouring.

"No Red! Listen to me please! You aren't alone! The Doctor's alive! Look at me!" The Doctor urged, trying to get her to open her eyes and see him.

"I cannot go on any longer. I tried to find him, find the others but there was nobody else. Please let this torturous life end." The fight left the Soldier as she went limp under the Doctor. There was no point to resisting, not even against Smith.

"No! NO! Soldier look at me!" He shook her in an attempt to get through to her. He pulled her and himself up, and she collapsed onto him.

The Doctor lifted her body until she was facing him and grasped her face, to center her.

"Listen to me. It's me. I am the Doctor."

 **AN: Poor Soldier, her happiness was snatched away from her at the last second. I'd like to thank my beta reader SHELBY BEAN for her helpful insight.**

 **Please review!**


	11. Double Edged Descent

**AN: Thank you very much for your reviews! Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long, it was hard writing the beginning of this chapter. Hopefully you guys like it.**

* * *

Double Edged Descent

Dusk peeked over the horizon as hues of orange, yellow and pink swathed the sky in a breathtaking view. The beautiful vision contrasted the heavy gloom that hung over the city. People stared straight ahead as they walked, avoiding the gazes of those less fortunate begging for the smallest compassion. Times were tough. There was too little to go around and nothing could be spared. The Great Depression had descended on London.

A lone woman in red stood out amongst the greys and browns of the city, despite her face mirroring the city's desolation. Her gaze was locked on to the pavement in front, almost as if in a trance. The dark skinned woman seemed to shake off her reverie and entered the bakery in front. She emerged with a measly bag of bread.

Unbidden, the Soldier's eyes flew to the signboard across the street. _Doctor's Clinic. Come in for a free check-up!_ Her features twisted in derision at the sign.

His fault. All of this was _his_ fault.

o0o

" _Listen to me. It's me. I am the Doctor._ "

The words resonated through the Soldier as she gazed at the man before her. The Doctor. The words brought forth an intense rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. Agony. Hope. Disbelief. It was too much. This was too much.

She retreated into herself, desperately grasping for control against her raging emotions. Too many. She was a hair's breadth from madness. An inch from the dark and wild abyss. She was almost there.

And she was gone. She didn't care for anything. There was no point. The world held no meaning beyond mere existence. Even existence was arbitrary.

As the Soldier began to turn inward, a rough shake brought the Doctor into focus.

Someone had survived. She wasn't alone anymore. The thought shone a ray of light into her darkness. This ray of hope was dangerous. It could destroy her soul. It nearly had in the hospital on the Moon. She couldn't survive a repeat of that time, not now.

The Doctor wasn't alive. He couldn't be. He had been drained in front of her. She had _checked_. This couldn't be the Doctor.

Numbness descended.

The Soldier was being shaken like a rag doll, pulling her out of her sensory deprivation. If Smith didn't stop soon, she'd kill him. The sheer audacity he had, claiming to be the Doctor, giving her false hope so that she wouldn't kill herself.

"Listen Soldier! Don't shut yourself off! I am right here! The Doctor! The man who travelled with Romana! You remember her, don't you? Come on, snap out of it!" the Doctor cried, panicked as he shook her even harder in his attempts to reach her.

Romana. That name struck another painful chord in her. She had given everything for Romana. But Artis, he had given the Soldier even more, something no one else had. He had loved her back. He had stayed with her through everything. He was the only one she would ever truly love and he had been ripped away from her.

The Soldier desperately tried to shut all of it out. One thing was becoming glaringly clear. She couldn't turn back to how she was before, alone, unloved and unwanted. She needed Artis. She needed love. How was she going to live without it? Without him?

Even this man, who claimed to know her in the future, called her a monster. Her future was clear. Without Artis, she would turn into a monster. She had already lived more than a thousand years. She didn't want to live on only to become a senseless murderer. She didn't want to die like she had last time, her legacy being a field of murdered bodies. It was better to die.

"Just leave me alone." Her voice was hollow and void of life.

" _ **Be strong. Even this will pass**_." The deep gaelic nuances of Gallifreyan echoed in her mind cutting through her numbness. She reacted instinctively, her arms coming around the Doctor in a desperate grip.

The Doctor from Gallifrey. Home was right in front of her. How had she not noticed it before? He had the unique Time Lord essence that distinguished them from every other race. That came from prolonged exposure to the raw Time Vortex. That alien quality and condescension. He exuded it.

He was the Doctor. He was really the Doctor! A dam broke inside her and her tears flowed freely as she grasped him like a lifeline. Gallifreyan. Her language. Her homeland. She wasn't alone anymore. She had another Time Lord with her. She would recover. She wouldn't be so terribly alone. That aching abyss of pain would ebb, she would heal. There really was hope.

She hugged him even closer, drawing comfort from everything that he was. The beats of his hearts soothed her and she pressed her face closer to his chest. She clung to him like a lost child desperately seeking reassurance after being found.

The Soldier sobbed her relief and pain onto the Doctor, unaware of the time passing by as she clung to him. The Doctor held her tightly, patting awkwardly at her hair. When she settled down, she stepped back, still holding tightly onto his arms, unwilling to let go completely. She tightened her grip as she braced herself for what she was going to ask.

"Can I stay with you, please? Can we be together?" The Doctor's face immediately closed off and something shifted in his expression. He looked as if he was in pain and this confused her. Had he misunderstood her intentions? Did he think she wanted to be romantically linked with him? But how could he when he'd just seen Artis die? So why his reluctance?

Her heart sank as realization dawned. He couldn't take her because their timelines were out of sync.

Wait. She could still travel with him. So what if their timelines were mismatched? She needed to be with him _right now_. She needed some semblance of home to deal with this grief. She needed hope. She could return to her established timeline when she was healed.

"Please, let me be with you. I searched all of time and space for you. I need to be with you. We only have each other. Do not leave me alone." The Soldier begged, throwing what semblance of pride that remained away. It didn't matter if she looked pitiful and pathetic as long as she got him to agree.

The Doctor's face contorted into anguish and hesitance. He was clamouring for words, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth in failed attempts at speech. Was he finding a way to refuse her?

The possibility of rejection stung and she tried not to show it as she waited for his response. Her plea would work. They were kinsmen. He wouldn't deny her.

"Soldier, the thing is you and I, we-we don't travel together. I mean I do occasionally, you know, drop you off sometimes but we don't, you know..." He circled his hands in the air awkwardly between them unable to finish.

"But why?" The Soldier asked in confusion and he fidgeted uncomfortably. There had to be more to it. Why couldn't she be with him? She could not imagine any reason that would make her averse to staying with the Doctor. She had loved being in a TARDIS, had secluded herself in her own for years, enjoying the comforts of a machine that catered to her every whim. Her TARDIS had insulated her against the harsh realities of the universe. She needed that.

"It's because of a thing. A very important thing. A wibbley-wobbley timey wimey batpoop crazy thing. Did I say batpoop? Never saying that again." The Soldier stared incredulously at the Doctor as he rambled and refused to look in her direction.

"Are you saying you will leave me here?" She whispered in disbelief. This was betrayal. He was abandoning her. Her voice was deceptively calm when she spoke next, "You are going to leave me behind on a planet that is hunting me? Then why are you stopping me from killing myself? Or do you want the pleasure of killing the monster yourself? Romana was wrong. She made you out to be someone who-" she paused, unwilling to call him compassionate and forgiving, not when he was doing this to her, "- who took care of others. I am not some _human_ that you encountered from Earth. You and I are the last of our kind. And you want to leave me _behind_?"

"No, no! You've got it wrong!" The Doctor hastened to reassure, "You can't travel with me now. You meet a younger me. If I remember correctly, this was how you were, when you met me." He cringed, waiting for her to explode. His eyebrows rose in shock at her lack of reaction and he continued, "I won't be leaving you behind here. I'll drop you off on another planet. Earth should be alright. Humans, they are incredible, they'll help you heal. I found someone when I was just like you, someone who pulled me out of my own darkness, Rose. The most humane human I knew." A fond smile filled his face in remembrance.

"I do not need _humans_!" She hissed, almost losing control. Why didn't he understand? Her voice rose as she tried and failed to be calm, "I need to be with _you_. How many times do I have to say it? How many times do you need me to beg? Without you, I have no reason to live. How can I separate myself from you when I know that you are alive? Please Doctor, I miss my home. I miss Gallifrey and you are the only thing that is left. How can I leave you? Please! I thought you were dead Doctor! I spent nearly three hundred years thinking you died because of me!" Her tears started flowing again, and she struggled to control herself. "Even if our timelines are not in sync, let me stay with you for a while before you move me to the correct time line. Just refrain from speaking about our future. There is no need for me to even warn you because we are Time Lords. But I cannot be alone. I cannot bear being alone, not anymore." How much more did she need to beg? How could she convince him?

The Doctor placed his hands on her shoulders and she wanted to flinch away from him, his cruelty, but she suppressed the urge knowing that it wouldn't help. His hands gently slid from her shoulders to cradle her face.

"Listen to me Soldier. There are things going on in my time that you shouldn't be involved in. Things so convoluted that your entry will endanger you and give my enemies someone to exploit; something that they've already done before. The you right now is compatible with the younger version of me. I was dealing with grief then too. " A deep sadness filled his eyes as he spoke, his eyes moving over her as if memorizing her face.

"Alright then." The Soldier surrendered, unwilling to fight on this further. But she still needed the reassurance that she wouldn't be alone, that at least she'd be with a younger him. "So do I travel with the younger you?"

The Doctor flinched at her question, drawing back and looking away from her. "No, no. Stop asking the same questions." He snapped, uncomfortable. "I had no idea you were a Time Lord at the time. I found out quite a bit later. You are better off keeping that to yourself for now; let me find out on my own. Timey-wimey stuff."

Did the Doctor just refer to the importance of sticking to established events as timey-wimey? The Soldier stared at him, unable to comprehend the extreme dichotomy of his personality. He made no sense. Granted she had never known the Doctor, but she had heard of stories of him, his exploits throughout time. He made a loud entrance wherever he went. But what was this childishness, this immaturity? Was he in denial of his age? Or had his regeneration gone haywire? Had he been exposed to a child right after regeneration? No, it ran deeper than that. But what?

No, all that didn't matter. He still hadn't answered her question.

"So do I stay with you? Why are you so silent? Am I asking too much Doctor? Are you married?"

He suddenly blushed, defensive as he answered, "No, I'm not! It's not that! You don't travel with me okay! You just don't. There are plenty of reasons. Universe exploding. Too many Time Lords can throw things off course. Put things in a fix that can't be fixed. Really bad and all that." He nodded fervently as if he believed his own drivel.

A thought, an impossible thought, was slowly sinking in the Soldier.

He didn't want her to stay in the TARDIS. No version of the Doctor ever wanted her as a constant companion. He wasn't desperately searching for a connection to Gallifrey like her. He was happy with humans, the beings for whom he had suffered exile and death. She was insignificant. Her existence meant nothing to him.

The realization burned her with humiliation.

It wasn't because of timelines. That was just an excuse. The rules of time could be bent. He didn't want to spend any more time with her than necessary. Why? Was she inadequate? In what way was she lacking, to be rejected by the only other Gallifreyan in existence? What did those human companions have that she didn't?

"Do you hate me Doctor?" The Soldier asked quietly, feeling her despondency return. The Doctor turned to her in alarm, feeling as if he'd made a huge mistake.

"I-No I don't. I care about you. I always have and I always will." The Doctor stated firmly.

Despite his words, the Soldier couldn't bring herself to believe him. If he really cared about her, then why was he doing this? All the Doctor had done since landing on this planet was lie. He'd fed her outright lies, half-truths and blatant omissions. There was something he wasn't telling her, something massive.

But she was so tired. Tired of fighting him, fighting the universe. The Soldier turned to face the pyre, watching as the flames began dying out. All it would take was a small jump, and it would be over. She gazed into the dancing flames fighting an internal battle. She took a step forward, knowing her decision had been made long before the Doctor had interfered. When it really came down to it, there was only one person who had ever made her feel worth it. No one else would ever replace Artis.

The Soldier picked up the fuel tank, blind to everything else around her. She drained the fuel over herself and tossed the tank aside. The Soldier jumped forwards, and jerked back when she felt hands pull her back. Falling in a heap onto the floor, she struggled desperately to overthrow the Doctor, who manhandled her to the ground.

There was a harsh blow to her left shoulder and then darkness.

o0o

The sound of wheezing groaning brakes echoed around the Soldier as she came into consciousness. A waft of time dust surrounded her and she jolted awake, feeling a glancing pain in her left shoulder. He had used the cheapest trick in the book, knocked her out by using the Time Lord Pressure knot.

The Soldier looked around, searching for the source of that haunting sound and sniffed tentatively, trying to figure out where she was. She was outdoors, and it was pitch black, the night lit only by the stars. She stood up, taking a step blindly in the dark. Her foot sank deep into watery slushy mud, and her balance rocked, sending her careening forwards. She fell, splashing into murky dirty water, the polluted water drifting into her mouth making her cough in disgust.

Earth, she was on Earth. Her Senses flooded with information at the recognition. This murky water was the Thames River during 1929, post-World War One.

The Doctor had abandoned her. Dropped her off in one of the most turbulent times of human history. Soldier waded back to the shore. She hurriedly checked her pockets, hoping he had left her with something useful. As she dug deeper into her pockets, all she found was her EMS and a soggy unreadable note. He had taken her weapons, her inventions. What was she going to do in this old civilisation? How would she protect herself? Why? Why had he done something like this? He'd left her lying in the middle of nowhere, hadn't even bothered to find her a place to live. He'd thrown her out of his TARDIS and left her to fend for herself with nothing but a scanner and a useless note.

Her grief returned with a forceful pang. Why had he saved her? Everything he had done made one thing clear. The Doctor didn't care about her, probably even hated her.

Her heart sank as she remembered images of Artis's lifeless face, of the Doctor's cruel rejection. A thought suddenly struck her. There was still hope. The young Doctor had not met her yet; she could still salvage her first impression. The Doctor could have lied about the established events, as he had about everything else. There was still a chance. She would see him again soon.

Now, she was back on Earth again, where humans lived the span of her heartbeat. The planet that the Doctor couldn't stay away from. How ironic was it that she was trapped with the species she had been mimicking the past few centuries.

o0o

The Soldier slowly climbed over the banks of the river and made her way through the streets. Numerous people lay homeless, sprawled over the nearest space available, huddling together to fight the incoming winter. As the Soldier passed the homeless people, she caught unfriendly and aggressive glares sent her way.

What was wrong with these people? Why were they so hostile? The Soldier made a cursory check of herself to make sure she wasn't dressed in alien attire, but the only distinct clothing she was wearing was her bright red coat, something that wasn't all that unique considering its state of disrepair. Had they somehow discerned that she was an alien? Her hand raced to her locket at her neck, feeling the slight buzz that implied that it was functioning normally.

Then what was it? Were they cautious because the War had just ended? Nothing could be done about that. All she could do was live with her head down, hope she didn't draw notice to herself.

As the Soldier passed a particularly inebriated man, he stared at her in disgust and spat at her feet. The Soldier backed away in alarm, insulted by his behaviour.

"Whatcha lookin aa me like that for? Look atcha self, drippin' and stinkin'. But then with tha colour of ya skin, what else can ya expect? Make no difference what ya step on, dunnit? Do ya even undastand what 'm sayin? Hahaha!"

The Soldier stood stunned, her misery and loneliness completely forgotten. Her skin colour? The reason all those people had been hostile was her skin colour? Rather than feeling rage, the Soldier looked at him befuddled, unable to comprehend this possibility. A slight hysteria began to permeate her thoughts, finding the entire situation ridiculously funny. Of all the reasons she'd been disliked in her life, this was, by far, the most useless and idiotic reason she'd ever heard.

The Soldier felt hysterical laughter bubble out of her, joining in with the drunken man as he laughed in derision at her. The man stopped, giving her a perturbed look before sauntering away.

Dear Rassilion, she was stuck with an idiotic species that hadn't even evolved to resolve their differences in skin colour. How ridiculous. How funny.

The Soldier laughed and laughed, dropping down to the ground as she clutched her stomach in pain. The surrounding drifters looked at her warily before clearing the area, unwilling to cohabit with a deranged woman.

As the Soldier settled, she gazed up into the sky, seeing nothing but a dull blackness, stars obscured from the pollution. Misery and gloom blanketed London, cries and screams occasionally ringing into the night sky.

The Doctor had been unwittingly right. This city mirrored her state perfectly.

0o0o

* * *

The Soldier turned away from the sign and turned towards the pavement again. It was a long walk to her shed. She had constructed it herself one with wooden planks that she stole from the surrounding construction sites. It had proved harder to steal than expected, especially since her "social status" in 1920s London made her circumspect.

A hospital had recently finished its reparations and for lack of anything better to do, she had joined as a nurse. She'd held the job for two days before she'd been fired for having "a smart mouth". So now she meandered about, looking for odd jobs to make ends meet.

She hated it.

Her eyes were drawn to the military drill practices conducted at the field nearby. Practise shots rang the air as one team practised shooting while another completed obstacle courses. Britain was gearing up for its Second War. No one believed that this fragile peace would hold.

She disappeared into the tree-line next to the military encampment. As she retreated into her shed, she took her bread and sat next to the window, listening as shots and cries echoed distantly.

She looked at the skies, hoping to see something unusual. But nothing happened. There was no danger.

She finished her bread and exited to the back of her shed, picking up her tools. She harvested bio-electricity from the eels she'd managed find in the river. With her being an "undesirable", the general populace refused to provide her with basic amenities, even when she had money. Hypnosis could not work on a target that was hostile and guarded. This discrimination seriously hampered how she could influence them, made acquiring simple things much harder. But the Soldier tried to give what she could to the refugees; the gypsies and Jews that fled to Britain and now lived in the fringes of the city. It was how the military encampments were obtaining information about the situation in Germany.

As the days passed, the Soldier found it increasingly difficult to believe that she'd meet the Doctor. Doubts plagued her mind. The dislike he'd shown her was immense; there was no reason to believe he'd given her accurate information.

Was it wise to run after a man that wanted nothing to do with her? A man whose only instinct was to run?

Only time would tell.

* * *

 **AN: So there it is! The Doctor just leaving her like that was a surprise. The next chapter is almost half-done and has a surprise Doctor. Can you guess which one it is?**

 **Bringing the race card was a little weird, but I'm trying to be historically correct. Any corrections and criticisms are welcome!**

 **A hearty thanks to my beta SHELBY BEAN!**

 **Reviews are much appreciated.**


	12. The London Blitz

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.**

 **AN: PLEASE READ THIS!**

 **I'd like to extend my gratitude to my beta reader Shelby Bean for all her help. She's created an image for the story, and to view it, please follow the link from my profile.**

 **I know I said no episode regurgitation, but I couldn't avoid the overlap in some scenes. Inevitable it seems, and I think it will happen again but I promise that I'll try to keep my style of writing and originality.**

 **Thank you for all your support readers!**

* * *

The London Blitz

Bombs exploded with earth shattering quakes as the walls of buildings crumbled to the ground. The London Blitz had arrived. There was no reprieve once the alarm bells started tolling. Everyone rushed to find shelter, going underground to escape the worst of it. A few stray dwellers scavenged for what they could, using the opportunity to grab what essentials they could from other houses to survive.

The Soldier dodged a falling wall as she ran into a wealthy manor to steal what she could before the house completely collapsed. Spotting a beam heading for her, she shot up, grabbing the falling beam and propped herself up, jumping across the falling debris before launching out the window, the items in her coat falling to the ground with the impact of her landing.

The Soldier scooped up the fallen items and ran for cover against the air strikes. She sprinted into the night, aware that she wouldn't get shelter here with this regeneration.

The Soldier spotted a subway entrance ahead and leaped in, landing halfway down the steps. Up ahead, the subway was filled with people crowding together, seeking shelter from the German bombs. They were huddled tight and the Soldier couldn't help but notice how defenceless they would all be if an enemy soldier got in.

The Soldier settled next to a homeless woman lying asleep against crumpled newspapers. When the bombs settled, she'd be able to sell her stolen wares in the Thieves Market and get enough money to survive the next few months. The Soldier closed her eyes drifting into a light sleep.

More than ten years had passed since the Doctor had abandoned her in war torn London. The Blitz had started a few months ago, with alarms ringing throughout the city to warn the citizens of impending attack. No matter how much stolen wares she'd sold, she hadn't been able to rent a house. The landlords seemed to exorbitantly raise their rates after getting a look at her. Her appearance of a homeless vagabond did not help her any.

The Soldier learned the troubles of the poor and unfortunate in the last decade. While she was intimately acquainted with war time conditions, she had never been in a situation where she couldn't scrounge up enough money to survive. Everything she was, from her skin colour to her gender, worked against her in this Pre-Enlightened Earth. An honest living was impossible, so desperate and disheartened she resorted to the only option left, stealing. She had tried to be honourable by only stealing from the rich, but a sense of disquiet pervaded nonetheless.

No one but the Doctor was to blame for her state.

Even if he hated her, _despised her_ , to drop her off in a place where surviving would be so difficult was heartless. He'd promised her that they would meet here, and clearly his promise had been false.

But this abandonment had taught her a few unforgettable lessons about Earth. London had shown her the power of human perseverance even in the face of abject misery. That human stubbornness, the innate instinct they had of not giving up, made them truly admirable. So many of the humans were in situations much worse than hers and they carried on with commendable will. There had been a single mother out on the streets raising her four children, somehow making ends meet. A group of children, skinny, starving, banding together to survive. A blind man who always survived the attacks because he knew the best places to hide. Slowly but surely, the Soldier learned the preciousness of life, the fragility of it by watching humanity struggle to preserve it.

While it was foolish to forget that humans themselves brought this suffering on their kind, the Soldier couldn't help but feel her will to live return. The universe was filled with fragile creatures that felt pain, endured, and didn't give up when faced with trouble that was insurmountable.

Was that where Gallifrey had gone wrong? They had progressed with knowledge, technology and convenience but somewhere they had lost the appreciation of the frailty of life. The importance of persevering, facing the situation gradually like every other species in the universe. Was arrogance of their longevity their biggest flaw?

Even she hadn't truly comprehended the trials of being ordinary until she came to Earth. It made her see humans for their strength rather than view them in their stereotypical weaknesses.

Regardless of the lessons the Soldier learned, her resentment against the Doctor continued to grow.

o0o

The Soldier's sleep broke when the sound of a large crash rang through the subway. Dust fell off the ceiling from the tremor, but the subway stayed up and didn't collapse. The Soldier looked to the entrance way, checking all the exits to make sure they were secure.

Suddenly a group of children came rushing down the steps, their arms over their head. They huddled in front of her, and she watched as a few of them started crying, shaking in their terror.

The Soldier looked away. Crying children was normal now, and getting attention from her would scare them even more.

"-you think she's okay?"

"Do you think she got out in time?"

"-want her here! I don't want to be alone."

"We'll be fine! Remember what she told us? We just have to return to our place after the bombings have stopped. She'll be there. For sure!"

Another bombing story. It wasn't like she could help them. Perhaps they wouldn't even accept it, but when the adult humans were ignoring them then her responsibility, as an alien, didn't even exist. Even if her oath was to protect, she couldn't save every person that was in danger. This was established history.

"What if-what if she runs into him? The monster boy that's been following us?"

"Why would he follow her? He came that one time looking for his mummy, that's all."

"No, it wasn't just once! He's been following us wherever we go. You only don't know because you keep fighting with Anna too much to notice!"

Or history could be rewritten. There was no one to police her actions. She could save anyone she damn well pleased, and the children had managed to light her curiosity. Maybe if she upset the timeline enough, then the Doctor would come to stop her.

o0o

The alarm bells started tolling, signalling that it was safe to leave. The Soldier followed silently as the children ran to an abandoned house at a backend alley. The eldest boy was herding the children and keeping a lookout, desperately searching for something before heading in last. The Soldier tiptoed to the side of the house and jumped to the roof, heading to the chimney to hear remnants of a conversation.

"-don't even know how to write, what are you doing on that machine?" A voice echoed through the chimney, followed by the repeated clacks of a typewriter.

The crunch of running shoes on loose gravel had the Soldier glancing up to see a young girl rushing into the children's hideout, carrying a small bag.

Once the girl entered, a small cheer rose up from the chimney. So this had been the missing child they'd been discussing earlier, the Soldier deduced, crouching on the roof so that she'd be less noticeable.

"Will you stop that noise?!" A shout rose up from the chimney, pulling the Soldier attention back to the conversation. The clacking of the typewriter ceased.

"I'm sorry, Jim. On you go, write a letter to your dad if you want to." The new girl apologised, regret coating her voice. The clacking of the typewriter resumed.

"I know we shouldn't have stayed here, but we need you, especially for the thinking." The eldest chimed in, his voice filled with adoration.

"And what if I wasn't here?" Her voice scolded sharply. "What if one night I didn't come back for you? There's a war on. People go out, and they don't always come back. It happens. What would you do then?"

A strained silence seemed to fall in the room, and the Soldier leaned in, intrigued despite herself.

"Are these wirecutters?" The sound of a chair being drawn echoed before the clacking of the typewriter stopped.

"I need you to think about this, Ernie! Someone's gotta look out after this lot."

"Why Nancy, are you going somewhere?" Ernie, the eldest, asked accusingly.

"The bomb site," Nancy responded hesitantly, "The one at the railway station."

"Why?!" Ernie cried out in fear and worry.

"The child. That's where he was killed." She explained, determination ringing in her voice, "That's where it all started, and I'm going to find out how."

"He'll get you!" Ernie warned, his silent plea for her to stay clear in his tone.

"He'll get you then he'll come after us." A small voice spoke out, cracking in its fear.

"He always comes for us!" Ernie begged.

"No, Ernie he doesn't! He always comes after me!" Nancy's corrected harshly but then took a calming tone. "There are things I haven't told you. Things I _can't_ tell you. As long as you're with me, you are in danger. Even right now, as you sit here, you're in danger because of me!" An echo of clacking resumed again.

" _You're_ the one who keeps us safe!" Ernie entreated.

"Safe? Then answer this. Jim is sitting right next to you, so who's typing?" Nancy asked, fear gripping her voice.

The Soldier stood, shocked at the development. She jumped to the ground, eager to investigate this mystery. As she moved to confront the children in the house, she spotted a lone child in the distance, standing eerily still as he watched the house. Suddenly he turned to his right, as if watching someone leave, and the Soldier followed his gaze to see the new girl, Nancy leave abruptly from the house, walking purposefully into the night.

 _This should be the monster child that they're talking about._ The Soldier ran quickly towards the child, but he seemed to lose interest and slunk off disappointedly into the darkened alleyway. This did not fit the description she'd obtained from eavesdropping from those homeless children.

Had those children misunderstood? It was normal, and the Soldier was learning, _human_ , to exclude others by basis of differences. The Soldier followed the child silently, and once she was within 10 feet of the eerie child, he seemed to stiffen and turned abruptly to face her.

"Mummy? Muuuuummmmmyyyy. Are you my mummy? _Are you my mummy?_ " The continuous repetition with the slight echo from an odd protrusion on the child's face made the Soldier extremely uneasy, especially since the pitch dark night made it difficult for her to make out any features of the boy.

The Soldier pulled out her EMS, and turned on the Light feature to see a small boy whose face was covered by a gas mask. Suddenly, the speaker on her EMS blared with static, before the child's voice rang out of the device.

"Are you my mummy? Mummy. Mummy? I want my mummy. Are you my mummy?"

Unnerved, the Soldier took a step back. This was not a normal child. She ran a med scan through her EMS to find the child had collapsed lungs, countless lesions and a gas mask fused onto his face. His hand bore a infected bleeding scar. This child wasn't supposed to be alive!

"Are you my mummy?! Mummy, please answer me. Mummy! Are you my mummy?"

The Soldier looked back at the child, and finally registered his desperate plea. This miracle child was desperately seeking his mother. But why didn't he _know_ who she was? Why was he even asking?

"No, I'm not your mother." The Soldier finally answered, and the boy tilted his head to the side before turning away.

The Soldier watched him go, wondering whether she should follow him. That girl, Nancy, had seemed to know about this situation, and pursuing this boy was almost useless since he was just a shell. The Soldier turned, speeding to the railway station that had been barred due to a sudden bombing one month ago.

This entire situation was exceedingly odd, completely out of the ordinary. The Soldier froze, halting in her tracks as a realisation crept upon her. From all that she had been able to glean about the Doctor, these were the kind of oddities that attracted him, pulled him in like a moth to a flame. A shiver ran through her as she considered the very real possibility that she might see the Doctor at the end of this road.

The Soldier continued on her path, her emotions getting more conflicted with each step she took. She was glad, relieved she was going to be seeing him again, yet the resentment that had been festering the past ten years refused to be ignored. He'd left her high and dry, and here she was, running back to him as if it had never happened.

As the Soldier placed the EMS back into her pocket, her hand brushed against a small scrap of paper, and curiosity had her drawing it out to inspect it. It was the note. The illegible note that the Doctor had left her all those years ago…but he hadn't given it to her like that, had he? She'd fallen accidentally into the river, and the note had turned illegible then. Maybe he'd left her details to a safe lodging, perhaps even a way to contact him in an emergency. The Soldier sighed, pushing her resentment down, locking it away deep inside of her. It wouldn't disappear, since he had abandoned her after all, but perhaps he hadn't intended all her misfortunes upon her.

Feeling her emotions settle, the Soldier came upon the military compound at the station and witnessed Nancy being shoved into a warehouse by military guards. Sighing at the complication, the Soldier ran towards the barbed wire and flipped over the fence, unwilling to cut her coat by going through the small hole that Nancy had undoubtedly cut using the wirecutter.

As the Soldier silently approached the barn, she was alarmed to see the surrounding soldiers in a feverish daze, unable to focus on anything in front of them, and twitching occasionally in pain. Worried, the Soldier crouched behind the gates to await the departure of the guards.

"Please don't leave me alone with him! You don't understand, he's not well! Don't leave me alone with him!" Nancy cried from within the room, and the Soldier paused, running through all possible illnesses that could cause this bizarre sickness. There was no doubt, this was alien in origin.

A harsh slam of the door was followed by Nancy's scream for help, and the Soldier slid silently forward, trying to find entries to the warehouse apart from the door. Spotting a window, the Soldier jumped up, holding onto the window sill, pulling the slide up with one arm before heaving herself through the window and landing in the room.

The Soldier looked up and was met with the sight of a man choking on air, his face red from the strain. A white bone started protruding from his mouth, expanding outward from his mouth to cover the rest of his face, turning black as it spread. His eyes stretched until they popped out and expanded until they joined the black material on his face. The man choked once more, his mouth spreading wide before a netted bone spit out, covering his mouth sickeningly. He collapsed in his chair, unmoving.

The Soldier stood still, stunned beyond belief. The man had vomited and sickeningly fused a gas mask onto his face. She hurriedly pulled out her EMS and ran a scan on him. Collapsed lungs, fused mask, blow to the head and an infected cut on his right arm. These injuries were identical to the ones on that miracle child.

What could be causing this? There was no virus in existence that perfectly replicated these injuries.

The man jerked up suddenly, turning slowly to Nancy, who had been struggling all this while, hardly noticing the new stranger in the room.

"Mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy?"

The Soldier looked on, stunned as the man continuously repeated the same questions the little boy had. She rushed forward as the man raised his arm towards Nancy, but before she reached, Nancy spoke up.

"You must be so tired. Would you like me to sing you a lullaby? Your favourite, remember?" With that, Nancy began to sing a lullaby haltingly, gaining confidence as the man settled down and rested his head on top of the table.

"Rock a baby, on the treetop..." Nancy jerked as she saw the Soldier approaching her, and the Soldier gestured for her to continue.

"Do not stop." The Soldier whispered, moving slowly towards her in an attempt not to frighten her. "I am here to set you free."

Nancy resumed singing, looking at her warily as she approached. The Soldier neared her to find her attached to the table by handcuffs. Pulling her EMS out, she set it to Resonation to undo her cuffs.

"The moment this opens, follow me outside. You need to tell me everything you know about this situation. Do you understand?" The Soldier commanded, leaving no room for disobedience.

Nancy stopped singing. "But what can you do? You don't understand, if you touch them, you become like them! There's nothing you can do!" She whispered furiously. Her cuffs clicked open. The sound of a drawing chair made both of them look up. The man stood up abruptly and the Soldier shoved Nancy towards the door, pulling out her EMS to scan him again, looking for any foreign antibodies, as the disfigured man approached. Nancy got the door open and pulled the Soldier's coat, making her lose her grasp on her EMS. She caught it, yet her fingers clicked together and suddenly a cloud of glowing yellow dust surrounded her fingers.

 _Nanogenes?_

The Soldier was jerked out of her thoughts when Nancy pulled her again, nearly dragging her out of the room.

"Are you mad? Weren't you listening to anything I just said? If he touches you, you become like him! You have to get outta here!" Nancy urged, growing harried when the Soldier continuously gazed at the closed door blocking the disfigured man, unresponsive to her words.

The Soldier abruptly turned towards her. "Tell me everything you know. I know how to deal with this problem, but you need to tell me everything that happened. Do you understand?" She ordered, her mind racing with all the possibilities. "How did this begin?"

"You're mad. Everyone I've met today is mad. Run, keep yourself safe, please!" Nancy forcefully pushed the Soldier towards the barbed fence. Fed up, the Soldier turned and picked the girl and jumped onto a low hanging branch on a tree, nimbly lifting both up onto the tree. The girl struggled for a moment but stopped when the Soldier pointed at the patrolling guards.

"Quickly tell me what you know. I really am capable of fixing this problem. I am the Soldier and I have experience dealing with these situations. Trust me." The Soldier entreated softly. Nancy gazed at her, her lower lip trembling.

"My brother, Jamie, he was here a month ago, when a bomb that wasn't really a bomb landed. I'd gone out to get us some food, and I'd tried to protect him with a gas mask, but he was so near the bomb, there was nothing I could do. He-he died. But something happened, that bomb did something to him. It made him a monster, and he keeps looking for," Nancy choked, unable to keep her tears back, "he keeps looking for his mummy. Whoever he touches, he turns them into monsters like him. But he's just a boy. He's just a boy looking for his mummy!" Nancy started sobbing uncontrollably, trying to drown out her sobs covering her mouth.

The Soldier watched her carefully, sympathy rising at her tragedy. She placed a hand on Nancy's shoulder in comfort, and drew close to whisper, "You need to take me to the site Nancy. To the fake bomb. We will find all our answers there." Nancy nodded, roughly wiping her cheeks before glancing down from the tree pointedly.

As the Soldier scanned the surroundings, she was horrified to see the surrounding soldiers convulse distortedly and grow gas masks before collapsing to the ground. The Soldier grabbed Nancy and jumped down, tucking Nancy's small frame under her arm and rushing to safety. Nancy struggled under her arm, and the Soldier gently placed her down.

"You have to travel with me like that if we want to be silent. Just tell me which way to go." She demanded gently, and Nancy's discontent melted at the soft expression on her face.

"The bomb landed on that crater up ahead, behind that truck." Nancy pointed, and the Soldier turned, seeing a large structure covered by nylon cloth located in the center of a crater behind a clutter of useless metal junk.

The Soldier kneeled in front of Nancy, gesturing for her to climb onto her back like how she'd carried those children from Panache. She felt a deep pang resonate through her at the memory, and misdirected empathy prompted her to hug the girl closer to her back after she'd gotten on, unable to see her as anything but a sweet determined child.

She took off, using the junk and metallic heaps as camouflage in the night. She paused when she heard three voices echo in the night, shrinking into the shadows and keeping a tight grasp on Nancy.

"You men, stay back. Get out of here!" A vaguely familiar voice shouted, and the sound of shuffling had the Soldier peeking out of her hiding place to see soldiers running out of the compound.

"The effect's become airborne, accelerating." A hauntingly familiar voice said, and the Soldier felt lead drop into her stomach even as her heart sped up in heartrending relief.

The sound of sirens woke the Soldier from her trance as a girl's voice rang out, "What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing." The Doctor replied curtly.

The Soldier stepped out, walking in a daze towards him, feeling her grip on Nancy loosen as the girl struggled off her back to approach the ragtag group.

"All we need. Didn't you say a bomb was going to land here?" The blonde asked, her pitch rising in her fear. The Doctor turned to his frightened companion.

"Never mind that, if the contaminant is airborne now, there's hours left."

"Until what?" The familiar man demanded. Except before he had been wearing a white tee and not this military attire.

"Till nothing, forever. For the entire human race. And is it just me, or do you see a figure in red approaching us?" The Doctor asked befuddled for a moment, before gesturing towards the exit. "You need to get outta here, now! Find someplace safe."

The Soldier moved towards him in a trance, blocked suddenly by Nancy.

"What are you lot doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay clear of this place?" Nancy accused the Doctor, and he turned to stare at her instead.

"You see!" The military man interrupted, scorn in his voice, "Just an ambulance."

"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked befuddled.

"It's hard to explain," the blonde interrupted, "it's from another world."

The Soldier watched their interactions, unable to comprehend why the Doctor wasn't asking about her. Did he really not recognize her, not know her at all?

"You said you'd help. These people are mad, but you said you knew what to do." Nancy's voice rang out, disbelief and fear in her voice as she turned to the Soldier.

"They aren't mad, little one. They're telling the truth, this is an ambulance. A Chula ship, going by the design. The ship released nanogenes upon impact, and I assume, having never met humans before, they set out to heal your brother, unintentionally turning him into what he is now." The Soldier approached Nancy, trying to soothe her fear, but Nancy shook her head backing away in confusion.

"I don't understand."

"It's not possible. It can't be." The military man denied in disbelief, turning to the ship and accessing the key codes.

"Whoever she is," the Doctor appraised her suspiciously, "she's got the right of it. What are you doing?" He snapped, turning to the military man.

"Trying to confirm it was the nanogenes. If what you're saying is true…" The handsome man trailed off, unable to finish. The ship sparked and suddenly alarms started ringing from the ship.

"That didn't happen last time!" The man exclaimed looking stricken.

"It didn't crash last time. There'll be emergency protocols now." The Doctor explained wryly.

"Doctor, what's happening?" The blonde cried out, and the Soldier turned to see one of the collapsed guards get up, his cries of Mummy ringing through the compound.

"Jack, secure those gates! Nancy, how'd you get in here?" The Doctor asked urgently, shaking Nancy out of her stupor.

"I cut the wires."

"Show Rose. Setting 2408. Reattach the wires Rose!" The Doctor urged, throwing his sonic at the blonde.

The blonde rushed off, and the Soldier evaluated their situation, feeling that somehow she'd escaped the hot pan only to fall into the fire.

The Soldier rushed to assist Jack, a faint memory of the name returning to her. _Flirt. White tee, suspenders. Vortex manipulator._

She scanned him discreetly as they barred the gates, yet could discern nothing with his thick uniform.

As they returned, she noticed Jack was giving her a knowing grin, a smug smirk decorating his features, and the Soldier felt confused at his expression. Had he noticed that she'd been scanning him? Why was he so smug about it?

"The name's Captain Jack Harkness. And you're clearly not a part of this time though your disguise is way better than those two. Wanna grab a drink together if we survive this?" He asked with a smirk, pulling her close to him.

The Soldier felt a scowl pull on her face at his casual flirtation. She knew it was normal, harmless even, but she couldn't help but feel she was betraying Artis. She pushed Jack away roughly, unable to look at him as she responded, "Not interested."

The Soldier approached the Doctor quickly, eager to get rid of the awkwardness she created and to confirm her hypothesis.

"Doctor!" the Doctor's head snapped up sharply, surprised at the familiarity in her tone, "Do you know me?"

The Doctor observed her carefully, but wasn't able to remember her face. But he'd met so many people that that wasn't a surprise. But she recognized _this_ face, and he hadn't had this face for that long, and for the life of him he couldn't remember anyone who wore such a vivid red coat. While her face was average, forgettable, that bright red coat, _Gallifrey red,_ he thought longingly, was unforgettable.

At his contemplative silence, the Soldier tried to push his recognition along. Wait, she had a different face then. What could she say? The future Doctor had warned her not to reveal herself too quickly.

At the Doctor's confused look, the Soldier sighed in comprehension. She would listen to the future Doctor's instructions for now.

"We'll talk after this." The Doctor promised softly, realizing the truth of the situation; she knew him in his future.

"Rose!" Nancy cried out in alarm, and the Doctor and the Soldier turned to see that Nancy and the blonde, Rose, had returned. Rose rushed over to the Doctor in panic.

"It's bringing the gas mask people isn't it?"

"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling troops. Standard protocol." The Doctor said, hurrying over to the ship to trying to deactivate alarm button.

The Soldier moved away, quickly trying to find a solution to the situation, tuning everything else out. A bomb was fated to explode at this site in less than fifteen minutes, nanogenes altered humans were programmed to attack them, and the child, _the commander of this Chula troop,_ wouldn't let them escape now that they were identified as threats.

Half the situation was solved; this contaminant couldn't spread further, and if all the troops were heading here, then as tragic as it would be, the fated bomb would destroy these infected humans. But how would they escape before the bomb detonated?

The Soldier rushed to the Doctor where she heard the remnants of their conversation.

"Not _the child,_ but Jamie." Nancy corrected Jack.

The Soldier opened her mouth but was cut off by Rose, "How long till the bomb detonates?"

"Any second." Jack warned in panic.

"What's the matter Jack? Too close to the volcano for you?" The Doctor mocked derision on his face.

"Where's your ship?" The Soldier interrupted, shaking the Doctor's arm to get his attention.

The Doctor turned to her with a resigned look, "Too far away to be of any use."

"He's just a little boy." Nancy choked out, her voice shaking.

"I know." The Doctor acknowledged.

"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy." Nancy whispered in despair.

"I know. And there isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this boy can."

"So what're we going to do?" Rose asked desperately.

"I don't know." The Doctor admitted, eyeing the approaching army with trepidation.

"It's my fault." Nancy cried out, and started sobbing uncontrollably, hugging herself tightly.

"How is it-"

The Soldier was distracted from the display in front of her when cries of Mummy resounded through the compound. A realisation hit the Soldier, and suddenly it all came together, why the child, _Jamie_ , had followed Nancy everywhere, looking desperately for his mother. Nancy was Jamie's mother, and she watched as the Doctor prodded Nancy, confirming her hypothesis.

But….if Jamie was the first specimen, and Nancy was his mother, a _confirmed_ biological match, then everything was done! Her head swam with the heady rush of having solved the problem and she looked up to see whether the Doctor had realised it too.

The Doctor was desperately convincing Nancy to tell Jamie the truth about his mother as the child approached, and the Soldier jolted forward, suddenly realising the danger that Nancy was in.

 _Stupid Doctor! Getting so emotional that you don't even see anything!_

The Soldier stood in front Nancy, blocking her access to Jamie. _Seven minutes to the bomb._ Her internal clock warned her. She turned around to look for Jack, only to realise he was missing.

"What are you doing? Let her go to Jamie! That might be the only way to salvage this situation." The Doctor said, trying to pull the Soldier away.

"Shut up you fool!" The Soldier shouted in anger and exasperation, "Do you have any idea what danger Nancy is in? And the solution to this is so glaringly simple I could beat you up for all your unnecessary dramatics!"

The Doctor drew back in shock and a frown framed his face, "What solution is this?"

The Soldier ignored him and drew her EMS, reaching her palm out to the Doctor. At his puzzled look, she demanded drily, "Sonic probe?"

He hesitated a moment before placing his sonic in her palm, grumbling loudly, "It's a sonic screwdriver, not a probe!"

The Soldier ignored him, quickly using the sonic to magnify the EMS Transmit settings, quickly writing a program for the nanogenes.

"Nancy, listen to me closely. Go near Jamie but avoid touching him. Hold this," the Soldier handed her the EMS, "and tell Jamie that you are his mother. Go, do it now. Our lives are now in your hands Nancy, go tell him the truth."

"What did you just do?" The Doctor demanded, holding his hand out for his sonic, and she returned it to him.

"Just wait and see." The Soldier smirked, elation filling her at her upcoming victory.

"I am your mummy. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I am your mummy Jamie." Nancy repeated crying, and she ignored the Soldier's words as she placed an arm around Jamie to hug him to her.

A golden glow surrounded Nancy and Jamie and the Doctor let out a gasp.

"Oh, just give me this! Please just give me this!" He begged, watching the nanogenes recognize their DNA.

"And your wish is my command." The Soldier teased light heartedly, joy rushing through her as the nanogenes released the boy. She'd succeeded. After so long, after so many failures, she'd finally succeeded in saving people. She was filled with a glorious kind of anticipation.

The Doctor rushed forward, pulling the mask off the boy and whooping in joy, lifting the boy in the air in his relief.

"What just happened?" Nancy asked in disbelieving joy.

"I forced the nanogenes to change their erroneous interpretation of humanity by having them recognise you as the parent DNA." The Soldier explained, taking back her EMS from Nancy to upload the software patch to the nanogenes.

 _No, time's up!_

The Soldier looked up to see a bomb falling towards them when suddenly a spaceship appeared, a tractor beam stopping the bomb's descent.

The Soldier focused back onto her EMS, ignoring the conversation around her as she programmed, knowing that Jack would handle the bomb.

As she finished, she looked up to find the spaceship flying away, and sadness filled her until she realised that Jack could be saved.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked her, approaching the Soldier slowly in curiosity, unsure how to handle this strange woman.

"She's creating a software patch." The Doctor passed a longing look at Rose before turning to the Soldier, "If I may?"

The Soldier contemplated him for a moment before handing the nanogenes over, trying to stay in his good graces.

"Going to email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves," The Doctor brandished the nanogenes at the patients in front, all of them falling to the ground, "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives!" He declared gleefully, his smile stretching ear to ear. He rushed over to the patients and the Soldier turned to see a soft happy admiring look on Rose's face as she watched the Doctor.

The Doctor ran back to them excitedly, "Right you lot! Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state! Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"

"Usually the first one in line," Rose corrected flirtatiously, and the Doctor gave her a charmed grin before enabling the self-destruct button.

The Soldier kept quiet as she followed them out of the compound. She was happy, feeling victorious, because _for_ _once_ she had managed to save _everyone_. And the Doctor bore witness to this, had succeeded because of _her_. She could tell he was impressed, especially with the small glances he kept giving her, yet the majority of his attention remained with Rose. This didn't bother her, because she was sure, _sure,_ that he would take her along now. She met all his criteria; she was a woman, useful, and intelligent. The Soldier couldn't help her grin, or the lightness in her steps. All she had to do now was satisfy his curiosity and then she was in. The Doctor, the universe, the TARDIS. They were all at her fingertips. Everything had finally gone right.

She watched as the Doctor shared his excitement with Rose, prattling on about how the nanogenes had worked as they approached the TARDIS. He unlocked the door, gave the Soldier a measuring look before grinning and moving in, leaving the door wide open in silent invitation. The Soldier's smile reached her ears. The Doctor was so _good,_ so _trusting_ and she had been such a fool for hating him.

The Soldier walked inside the TARDIS, and her heart squeezed in relief. She was finally _home_. Granted this wasn't her TARDIS, but everything of Gallifrey resonated within this TARDIS. The Soldier spun around slowly, absorbing everything _,_ the feel, the smell, the look, _everything,_ within her. She felt the strong urge to cry, unable to bear this painful happiness.

The Soldier stood off to the side, trying to bring back her composure. Rose approached her in concern, "Are you okay?"

The Doctor assessed her before replying, "Give her a moment. The TARDIS can be a bit too much for people sometimes."

"But Doctor, what about Jack? Why did he say goodbye?" Rose asked her concern passing to Jack.

The Doctor smiled, "Everybody lives Rose." He pranced around pressing a few switches, before asking Rose to dance with a happy smile as the TARDIS door opened into Jack's spaceship.

"Well hurry up then!" Rose said, grinning at Jack.

Rose danced awkwardly with the Doctor, teaching him slowly and she passed a happy smile at Jack who walked into the TARDIS in confusion.

"I'm sure I used to know this stuff. Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up. There's going to be a draught," The Doctor said, moving away from Rose and starting up the engines as Jack shut the door.

The Soldier felt calm settle over her as she watched the silliness ensuing in front of her.

"Welcome to the TARDIS!" The Doctor declared, glancing at both Jack and her in welcome.

"Much bigger on the inside." Jack commented in awe, spinning around to take the TARDIS in.

"You'd better be," the Doctor said in slight warning, but Rose rolled her eyes, "I think what the Doctor means to say is you may cut in."

"Rose, I've just remembered!" The Doctor suddenly declared, changing the music from waltz to swing, "I can dance. I can dance!"

"Actually Doctor, I think Jack might want this dance." Rose said with a gentle smile.

"I'm sure he would, but with whom?" the Doctor teased as he pulled Rose into a Swing number.

The Soldier let out a laugh as she watched the two of them dance around the console and she saw Jack pass a longing look at them both. Jack spotted her and smiled, motioning with his head towards them and holding out a hand in a silent request. The silliness, the _normality,_ of the situation spurred her on and she accepted his hand with a smile.

He held her hand for a moment before abruptly pulling her towards him, maintaining a respectful distance at her frown. He grinned again before abruptly jerking her off to the side and then pulling her back again only to exaggeratedly dip her to the ground. The Soldier let out a surprised laugh, confessing, "I haven't really done this before. Maybe teach me properly?"

"Your wish is my command," Jack winked before guiding her hands to his shoulders and asking her, "Do you want to Swing or just be random? Random will be much more fun."

The Soldier grinned, the foreignness of this entire experience making it that much more exciting. "Random it is." Jack proceeded to lead her gently around the console, dancing in a slow waltz before his competitive spirit rose upon seeing the Doctor. He proceeded to Swing around the console, racing around with her, and the Soldier laughed at his silliness, charmed by his childish behaviour.

"This feels more like ridiculous hand clapping, waving and walking than anything else," the Soldier commented with a smile, and Jack glanced down at her, his gaze ripped away from the Doctor.

"You can't get tired! We're winning! Look!" Jack gave a victorious smile as they rushed past the Doctor and Rose in their steps, and the Doctor laughed before stopping, "That was fantastic! We should do it again!"

The Soldier stopped, pulling Jack to stop him as well, and shook her head at the petulant look on his face. She turned to the Doctor, smiling at him nervously as she realised her situation. She wanted to stay in the TARDIS, but how was she supposed to ask?

"I think it's time we did introductions! Properly this time!" Jack announced, perching himself on the railing, "I'll start. I'm Captain Jack Harkness, ex-Time Agent, and now ex-Con. Human from 51st century."

Rose grinned and joined him at the railing, smiling at him then her, "Rose Tyler, 21st century human, and I travel around with a mad man in a box," she winked at the Doctor.

"I'm a Time Lord and this is my TARDIS, which can travel through space and time. The best ship in the universe!" The Doctor grinned before turning to the Soldier, waiting expectantly.

The Soldier was befuddled, what was she supposed to say? As she opened her mouth to declare that she was a Time Lord too, she felt a tug on her Senses that indicated a time disturbance. Her announcement of being a Time Lord, was somehow a fixed point in time, and that time was not _now._ That Doctor hadn't been lying after all.

"I am Red Alpha. I was a soldier once," she began quietly, a toxic feeling building up as she refused her identity. But after Artis, after the tragedy she had created, she couldn't be a soldier, _no more_ , "but my planet was destroyed by war, my husband died, and you," here she gazed at the Doctor intensely, "you sent me to…well, _you._ "

A quiet descended as her solemn words ruined the cheerful atmosphere.

Suspicion rose in the Doctor's eyes and he replied, "Give me proof. I would have given myself something, given _you_ something."

Dread filled the Soldier as she quickly thought of anything the Doctor had given her. All he'd given her was his _note_ and that was completely useless. Nevertheless, she withdrew the note from her pocket and handed it to the Doctor. _Don't throw me out. Please don't throw me out._

The Doctor flipped the note over, shaking it repeatedly before looking at her questioningly.

"Nearly eleven years have passed since that note. Your piloting of the TARDIS is just ridiculous." The Soldier complained, "You didn't really explain the note, and you ended up dropping me into the Thames River."

"Yeah, that's him alright." Rose agreed, shaking her head, "He told me he'd drop me off just a few hours after I left, and when I arrive it's been a year and my mum's in a panic."

The Doctor rolled his eyes before tossing the note over the railing, "Off we go! Another adventure! And no insulting the driver!"

The Soldier smiled in relief before joining the others at the railing.

After everything, she was finally in the TARDIS.


	13. Snippets of the TARDIS life

**A/N: It's been a while since it has been updated but the next one should come out soon.**

 **A reviewer asked about why the Doctor and the Soldier had not been able to recognize each other. It's been mentioned before but I've addressed again in this chapter. Hope it clears up the confusions.**

 **Enjoy folks!**

Snippets of the TARDIS life

The Soldier rushed ahead, nudging Rose along as she lagged behind. They were being pursued by Nallimens, a historical tribal race in the planet of Bluten, whom the Doctor had offended by accidentally pushing their Rain Deity over a cliff. Granted, their Rain Deity had been a rock that the Doctor had tripped over but the Soldier couldn't help shake her head in disbelief. Only the Doctor would get into this kind of trouble.

The Soldier glanced at Jack who returned an adrenaline filled grin. The Soldier felt a grin grow on her face as she raced through the fields towards the TARDIS, bringing up the back to make sure no one got left behind. As foolish as this was she couldn't deny the rush, the thrill of running for her life. This was in her blood, the sense of thrill, the fight for survival.

The TARDIS came up ahead and the Doctor unlocked the door while Rose and Jack scanned their surroundings quickly. The Soldier felt something small rush past her in the corner of her eye and her hand darted out instinctively catching the object mid-flight, an angry yell of failure echoing from the forest. It was a blow dart covered in poison and the Soldier pocketed it, running towards the TARDIS door that the Doctor was holding open for her. She sprinted in as she heard the telltale BLOP of more darts being fired and she banged the door shut, hearing the splattering of darts outside the door.

She made it! She turned to the Doctor, sharing a foolishly victorious grin with him before moving towards the console, high fiving Jack and Rose.

o0o

The Soldier was lounging against the railing with Rose as Jack and the Doctor were bent over the TARDIS tinkering on the console, Jack somehow convincing the Doctor to let him help fix the broken gas alternator circuit.

"So, you had a husband?" Rose started carefully, tentatively peeking at her.

"Yes," A tone of finality rang through the Soldier's voice, discouraging Rose from continuing on that vein, "Do you have a partner?"

Rose measured her carefully before nodding slowly, "His name is Mickey, but we're not-I'm not…it's complicated."

"You are here, and he is home?" The Soldier asked, curiosity growing.

"Yep, that's about it. He's a nice bloke, we were always together, I mean, we even grew up together." Rose hesitated looking unsure before looking away, twitching in discomfort.

"You do not love him," the question came out more as a statement and Rose's furtive glance confirmed it, "Does he know?"

"It's, it's not that simple. I love him, of course I do! But I don't know if I'm _in_ love with him. I miss him sometimes, but the Doctor refuses to let him come along," Rose rambled, looking conflicted.

"You should see him when we return to Earth. Being in love, it is hard not to know. You cannot deny it, nor do you need to search for it. You will know when you see him," the Soldier gently explained. Rose turned to her, opening her mouth to contradict her but seemed to change her mind, looking away.

"You knew you loved your husband immediately?" Rose asked abruptly.

"No not immediately, but there is no mistaking the feeling. When you are with your partner, you feel alive, like you could do everything, _anything,_ for them…" the Soldier's voice trailed off, thoughts returning to Artis, to how he made her feel. The gaping hole he'd left in her heart still ached, pulsing like a living thing.

"What happened?" Rose asked softly, her hand reaching out to the Soldier's in comfort.

The two of them were jolted out of their conversation as the Doctor abruptly stood up, "Now that _that's_ all fixed, who's up for some Blue IceKools from the Stuji Star System? They're the best soda drinks on this side of the Universe!"

The Soldier smiled her agreement, patting Rose on the shoulder in acknowledgement before joining the others to help navigate the TARDIS.

o0o

The Soldier reclined lazily at the pilot seat, feeling a slow contentment flow through her bones. The team had taken the day off, feeling a day of rest was well in order after the back to back adventures they'd had. Rose and Jack had retired for much needed sleep but the Soldier and the Doctor had stayed behind at the console, tired yet unable to fall asleep.

The Soldier turned a lazy eye to the Doctor, watching as he slowly set the TARDIS to autopilot, cruising through the Crab Nebula. For the first time ever he seemed relaxed around her, maybe because he didn't fully register her presence. Despite the crazy adventures they'd been through they hadn't really spent time alone together, having Rose and Jack acting as a buffer for all their conversations. Sometimes the Soldier felt as if the Doctor didn't trust her, or rather didn't know what to do with her. She understood; knowing that your interaction with someone was tempered with unknown interactions from the future sent all sorts of mixed signals. He was wary but being who he was, he was reluctant to act on it.

As the Soldier came back to the present she noticed the Doctor returning her gaze steadily, arms crossed casually against the console in front of her.

"This is nice." She started slowly, attempting a conversation for the first time without Rose or Jack to help boost it along.

The Doctor gave her a measuring stare and nodded slowly, understanding what she meant, "Not many people think that about this lifestyle. Have you done this before?" _With me_ , was glaringly implied.

"Yes, but this is my first with you." She replied, returning his probing stare. The Doctor stared quizzically at her then his gaze turned to her EMS scanner, curiosity lighting up his eyes.

With a put upon sigh the Soldier wordlessly passed him her EMS scanner, aware that he'd been eyeing it with a rabid curiosity since she'd first used it in front of him. The Doctor took it, a big smile stretching ear to ear.

"I'll return it to you in one piece. Where did you get such technology?"

The Soldier passed him a smile before climbing over the railing and dropping to the lower floor with a thud, moving deeper into the TARDIS hallways.

As she walked leisurely through the maze-like hallways, she couldn't help but obsess over her interaction with the Doctor. It was their first _real_ interaction, and she couldn't help the satisfaction budding over their interaction.

 _Why was her head pounding?_

He'd stared at her, spoken more than she did and given her that adorable ear to ear smile that made his blue eyes brighten. He'd even appreciated her EMS scanner for its technology, just like the time on the Game Station.

The time on the Game Station…when she had had a different face...

The Soldier froze as the implications hit her. Only the previous Doctor she had met, the one from Panache, had connected the dots between her two faces. He hadn't been impressed or glad but that also meant that _this_ Doctor hadn't connected the dots until he'd turned into _that_ Doctor. The Doctor couldn't know and the only objects that identified of her was her EMS, her red coat and Chameleon necklace.

The Soldier was crushed in her disappointment. How could she make any meaningful connection with the Doctor if anything they shared had to be kept secret? She had no illusions about herself; while she had spent a few years with civilians, most of her life had been defined with social exclusion and detachment arising from her life as the Soldier. She had no social ability to interest the Doctor like Rose and Jack. She didn't wear her heart on her sleeve like Rose or flirt audaciously like Jack. She believed in defining her goals and acting towards them, not make meaningless conversation that had no purpose. Yet...yet...

There was no point in pitying herself. She was still in the TARDIS and the Doctor was warming up to her. She could do this.

The Soldier rushed back to the console room, running in her urgency to retrieve the EMS.

Because the Soldier had witnessed his realisation, the incident was established in time. He could not make the connection between her previous regeneration and her. She could feel her Senses pulsing rapidly against her mind, urging her to act faster.

 _Time is running out. Faster, faster! He can't use that EMS!_

She rushed into the console room, leaping over the bannisters to ascend faster to where the Doctor sat, poring over the EMS.

"I need that back." She panted, feeling her Senses revolt harder the longer he held it.

"What?" His face twisted with blatant disappointment, "But you said-I mean I thought you didn't mind me looking at it."

Her reluctance in disappointing him warred with the relentless pounding of her Senses.

"You have a habit of taking things apart and not putting them back together properly."

"But I -"

"It's more than just a device to me. The woman who made it for me was one of a kind, my best friend, and she's no more. I didn't even have a real name before I met her. She was brave and a fearless leader who motivated me to be more than I was. My coat, even my name is all homage to her. Doctor, I need that back."

The Soldier looked away after her speech, feeling disgust crawl through her. While she hadn't lied, her misdirection made her feel filthy because Leila Black was everything she described and more to her. Her sense of honour cringed at using Leila Black to cover her own identity. Leila had been the only woman she had ever been completely honest with. She had confided _everything_ to her and hadn't to anyone else since then, not even Artis. Leila had given her a reason to live. That she had used her memory in such a way made her resolute. She would never let the Doctor into her possessions again.

At least the Doctor would now be able to separate her from her other self at the Game Station despite both of them having the same EMS scanner.

o0o

The Soldier sighed again, struggling for patience as she looked around their dingy prison. The four of them were locked up in the planet Soleda for releasing the Porkis' caged slaves. While these set of events were not unusual, she knew that this time they were truly in trouble. The Porkis were a particularly sordid race of aliens that took offense at the slightest of things and took great pleasure in punishment. The Doctor's condescending and defensive attitude hadn't helped any.

She knew the Doctor was aware of their danger but he was doing everything he could to reassure Jack and Rose that nothing was wrong. Of course she was included in his false reassurances but she had been dissuading his attempts and trying to keep them abreast of the situation. Keeping them in the dark would do them no favours rather the danger would keep alert.

Jack and Rose were slumbering, huddled together for warmth while the Doctor and her sat awake in what remaining space they had in the cramped cell. The Doctor was probably racking his brains on how to get them out while she kept a watchful eye on the guard patrol. The Porkis would not hesitate to take advantage of sleeping prisoners. Even the slightest display of weakness was an opening.

The Soldier closed her eyes as she considered her own predicament. The Porkis had already identified the species of the three around her but her chameleon device on her necklace had started to glitch on their entry into the prison. The readings had swung between being a Porki and a human, mostly because her Chameleon device mimicked the closest species. She had set the default setting to human, especially since she travelled in the TARDIS, yet her Chameleon had started malfunctioning. They took her away repeatedly, much to the Doctor's concern, as they tried to discern the anomaly. They had even done invasive surgeries to confirm her species.

But she had made many advancements on her Chameleon since her stint at the Shadow Proclamation and her necklace _was_ a true Chameleon that even mimicked the biology of her impersonation. It was how she had maintained her disguise as a human in the TARDIS despite the scanning mechanisms it possessed. It now proved to be a disadvantage as their open surgeries showed her at times to be a Porki and other times a human.

She was in immense pain but that was nothing new. Rather her senses were on high alert, even more so because of the pulsing pain. The Doctor had taken to his namesake and tried to heal her with what little resources they had and she was immensely grateful but that didn't change the fact that she blamed him for this.

It was the Doctor that had encouraged Rose and given in to her whims of freeing the Nermis even as the rest knew that escaping afterwards was next to impossible for pulling something so daring.

As if one open cage would solve the problem. There were thousands of Nermis enslaved on the island, out of Rose's immediate sight. The Doctor's constant need to protect the innocence of his companions from the harsher realities of the universe was proving too costly; both in the long and short term. They _always_ paid the price for badly thought out impulsive actions.

Interfering in a planet's affairs was too dangerous. She knew that only too well.

But somehow, the Doctor always managed to succeed where she couldn't. Every time.

It was probably what gave Rose the courage to pull dangerous moves like this and expect impossible saves. The Doctor seemed truly capable of delivering on it.

Her eyes opened suddenly as she heard the Doctor let out his own sigh. Her views did a complete turnaround at his vulnerability.

He was a good man. He was trying to do what he could to improve the life of Soleda's inhabitants and make sure his own companions stayed protected. She had not _really_ suffered in their surgeries. They had taken her apart and put her back together with great finesse and she had endured worse tortures. Really, the torture hadn't even begun, they were too curious about her to pay the others any mind. Right now, she was a mystery that they were keen to solve. The real torture would begin soon. But they had time, and the Doctor was doing everything he could to make sure they escaped before it did.

She wondered if the Doctor had clued into the reason for why they had come repeatedly for her. He had yet to share what he knew and he definitely hadn't come asking about her true species. He could be keeping quiet to spare Jack and Rose. Or, she thought, he could be thinking that the Porkis were taking turns on torturing them, starting with her and eventually moving on to the rest of them.

The Doctor seemed to break a little every time they had come to take her and his eyes held a heavy sorrow as he hurried to apply and ease the wounds that remained when she returned.

"I am okay." She whispered, his troubled expression spurring her to reassure him.

"No, you're not. But I won't let them get away with this." The Doctor's eyes shone with grim determination that touched her.

"I will be fine Doctor. I have been through such ordeals before. I was a soldier once." She propped herself into a sitting position, with one of her arms loosely draped over a folded knee. Somehow she couldn't seem to hold eye-contact with the Doctor for too long.

"This still isn't right. Even if you and Jack know what to expect, with me you're supposed to be safe. And Rose… I promised her mother I wouldn't let her come to harm. She's very strong and just so… very human. I don't want this to change that. If they take her next…" The Doctor's eyes closed in anguish at the possibility.

That certainly cleared up how the Doctor viewed the Porkis' interest in her. He thought they were taking turns to torture them. He was right, Jack and her were trained for battle situations and knew what to expect. While Rose probably knew in theory what to expect, being actively placed in a torture chamber would be a difficult ordeal. It would destroy her innocence, her spirit of life. Rose was the symbol of happiness, joy and everything good for the other three. Seeing her succumb to the cruelties of evil and lose that sense of _life_ would be a tragedy. She represented the best of the world, what they _could be_. The Doctor from Panache had been right. Rose was a light in the darkness for all three of them.

"They will not take her just yet, Doctor. We have time."

"But they are taking you."

"Doctor, I am fine. They have not done anything too bad yet." The Doctor's face twisted, but he kept quiet.

They fell into another silence as he resumed his musings while she continued to remain alert of their surroundings.

There was a beat and suddenly the air between them changed.

The Soldier stiffened imperceptibly as the Doctor turned towards her.

"There's something I've wanted to ask you for a while." The Doctor paused, as if it was taking him a lot to ask the question, "The husband that you lost… was it…" _me,_ he paused again, unable to say the word then hurried to rephrase it, "I mean, in the future, were you and I… I mean I sent you back to myself. Were we…"

The Soldier blushed to her roots and thanked her dark skin for not letting it show. Oh god, this was so awkward. So terribly embarrassing.

"Uh… We were…" She could suddenly empathise with his lack of eloquence, "not involved like that. I mean we knew each other. But not like that." Definitely not, especially with how he had treated her. Even if it was a future version of him that had treated her so cruelly, it was still _him_. He would still do it to her despite these moments that they shared. Time Lords knew the importance of timelines, of different personalities, but they also knew that despite different faces, the individual was, in essence, the same.

The Doctor's posture relaxed at her answer and she had mixed feelings at his reaction. Was she that undesirable? Clearly he didn't want to be with her, even if they were the only two Gallifreyans left in the universe. The Doctor from before and him had made that glaringly clear.

What was she thinking; she wasn't interested in him like that. She didn't care.

Okay she did, but she only wanted him as a constant companion. Nothing more.

She shook her head to clear her head of her useless thoughts.

An awkward silence fell between them and she prayed that he would open his mouth to dispel it. He often had _a lot_ to say, and right now she'd appreciate his propensity for ranting.

True to form, he did interrupt the silence, but not how she expected.

"I've got a confession to make. You see, Time Lords are mildly psychic. They can pick up on how people feel, a kind of empathy you know. I can sense it from Rose and Jack. But you don't have that. I can sense something different, but I can't use this" he tapped his brain to emphasize, "to sense you at all."

Oh. Right. That was to be expected. The High Council had removed her mind from the psychic link of Time Lords. She had forgotten because she had not met another Time Lord in a long time, but it certainly explained why he couldn't intuitively recognize her as a Time Lord. Why she had not been able to recognize him either. Could she connect again? She had never tried before. But she would have to wait until the Doctor knew her to be a Time Lord.

"Is that so?" She asked neutrally. "Do they," Her eyes flitted to Jack and Rose in indication, "know of your _special_ abilities?"

"No, not yet. But it's not something I'm hiding. Do you want to share mind space? It's quite fantastic really. It's very simple and won't hurt you even a little bit."

"And _why_ would I share mind space with you Doctor? It is an invasion of privacy." The Soldier's reproach was too sharp to be casual. What was he thinking, offering to share telepathic space with someone he considered non-telepathic?

"Oh well, no pressure. Just thought it would pass some time. To tell you the truth, I was hoping I could numb your nerve centres so that you wouldn't feel pain the next time they come…" He trailed off and looked away.

They settled into silence again and neither interrupted it this time.

* * *

The following morning saw the Doctor unusually quiet as the prison guards came to take her away. He didn't protest or beg to be replaced like he did when they came before. Her heartbeats started to pound as she mulled the possibilities. He had something up his sleeve. If his unusual behaviour wasn't a dead giveaway, his glittering eyes and long looks towards her clued her in. They were going to escape today.

The guards nevertheless restrained Jack, Rose and the Doctor as they pulled her away amidst the humans' loud protests and curses. As they drugged her and prepped her for her next dose of surgeries, she centred herself with the knowledge that this would be the last time. Then she would be back in the TARDIS, where she would relax, practice her forms and do absolutely nothing. She finally lost her consciousness to peaceful images of her own TARDIS, of the Doctor's TARDIS, of its infinite confines and its protective hum that hovered at the corner of her Senses.

* * *

Rose held on to Jack for reassurance as her throat went hoarse from her screaming. She could feel the dried streaks of salt on her cheeks left behind by her tears.

As her eyes drifted to the Doctor, she suddenly relaxed. The Doctor would save them. He had a plan. They would save Red. They would finally escape this horrible planet.

The Doctor and Rose served as the distraction as the guards came in with their meal. Jack knocked them unconscious and grabbed their weapons and the cell's keys.

"We only have five minutes before they lock the entire island. Get Red and bring her to the fortress entrance. I'll go ahead and bring the TARDIS to the gate. Hurry! Go, go, go!" The Doctor urged them.

Rose and Jack took off in a sprint to find Red. She was grateful Jack was here, because he seemed to know where they would keep her and she couldn't have done it alone with the time they had.

As they forced through a barricaded door filled with surgeons, Rose let out a blood curdling scream. Her legs gave away and she collapsed to her knees at the sight. They had taken out Red's organs. Her intestines, her stomach, lungs, liver, _all her human parts_ were lying on dishes with the scientists swarming around them taking notes. There was no way a human would survive this.

Red was dead. This was _her_ fault. Jack pulled out one of the weapons he had taken from the guards and his own voice shook as he demanded that they put her back together.

They both knew there was no point. Nobody could survive this. They had less than five minutes now. The surgeons put her back together under Jack's watch, working rapidly under his threat. Rose moved to pick her up but Jack put a staying hand on her shoulder.

Restoring her was all they could do. They couldn't carry her to the fortress gate with security after them. She clasped Red's wrist as another wave of painful tears burst forth. This wasn't fair. She shouldn't have died this way. Not Red. Not her.

Rose ran with Jack to the fortress gate, her steps staggering as her vision blurred repeatedly with tears.

This wasn't right.

As she heard the telltale groan of wheezing brakes of the TARDIS materializing in front of them, she dreaded telling the Doctor.

The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS searching in increasing concern for Red. At her absence he looked at the both of them inquiringly. She clasped onto the Doctor's arm for comfort as Jack just shook his head, unable to form the words.

She hugged him for comfort and forced herself to say the words, "They… they took her apart." Her own composure wilted as Jack told the Doctor what happened.

* * *

The Soldier opened her eyes in her drugged haze and saw the white coats running towards the exit. Why was there no guard escorting her? Right, the Doctor was probably preoccupying the guards. But why hadn't they come for her? Had they thought her dead?

The possibility spurred her into action and she used her rare regeneration energy to heal herself. There was no time for slow recovery and though she had cut five years off her lifespan, she needed to find them before they left without her.

She sprinted out the door and scaled the walls to the entrance. It was easier to escape when you were alone than when you had a team. But where could they have gone? She would have to reroute herself to where they had parked the TARDIS so that they could meet. She rushed to the fortress' gates where she saw the distinctive outline of TARDIS amidst the alien architecture around her.

She skidded to a halt and for the first time true terror gripped her as she heard the telltale sign of the TARDIS dematerialising.

They were leaving her behind.

She was going to be alone.

The TARDIS. The Doctor. Gallifrey.

She rushed forward and placed both hands on the slowly disappearing TARDIS.

This would be the true test. Her own TARDIS could not override the summons from Gallifrey to heed her telepathic summons. Her psychic link was damaged and she would have to forge a connection to the Doctor's TARDIS from scratch.

But she had to do it.

This fraction of a second was all she had.

She stretched her mental presence outward and into the wood. The TARDIS was no longer separate from her, something different and connected by touch. It was part of her, they were one. She deactivated her Chameleon telepathically, let her Time Lord essence pour into the TARDIS and _willed._

The flow of her sense of self to the TARDIS created a sharp static that made her reflexively withdraw her hand.

The TARDIS disappeared.

The Soldier stood staring at the place where the TARDIS should have been. It should have _worked._ She was confused. Her mind refused to register the lack of the TARDIS.

How could something just disappear?

Something inside warned her that she was undergoing the symptoms of shock and that she was unable to compute basic facts, approaching catatonic shock.

She turned around to the befuddled faces of the Porkis. Well, she knew how _that_ felt. Her mind started to function past her shock, starting to realize her situation. Her mind raced through facts about her surroundings, things she could use as a weapon to survive.

A familiar sense of despondency was threatening to overtake her, freeze her actions and just let things unfold. A clinical part of her also recognized the self-destructiveness and was warning her not to succumb.

But the TARDIS was gone…

What was the point?

She was starting to have auditory hallucinations too. She could almost _hear_ the wheezing brakes as if it were just behind her. She closed her eyes in pain. What use was skill, anything at all really, if her success rate at anything she did was almost zero. She couldn't even make it back to the TARDIS in time.

Her ears picked up a loud bang and arms surrounded her waist, pulling her backwards. Her eyes flew open at the resounding thud of the TARDIS doors closing shut.

 _She was back in the TARDIS._

Her eyes pricked with tears and she closed them quickly to make sure no one could see them.

They had come back for her.

She didn't need to turn around to know that the Doctor held her firmly as the other two, Jack and Rose were rushing towards her, joining in on the impromptu hug and crying out in joy.

"How-how did you survive Red? I-I'm so glad you're alive!" Rose's relieved tears and her crushing hug soothed her own erratic hearts.

They led her gingerly towards the pilot seat, the Doctor hurriedly navigating them away from the planet.

Jack and Rose crowded around her as she set out to explain how most times they had digged out her organs but put her back together seamlessly with their advanced medical technology. She refrained from mentioning her regenerative healing, her scars from the previous surgeries serving enough to prove her point.

"How are you even talking right now? You must be in so much pain!" Rose fretted, running her hands furtively over the Soldier.

"Just go get some sleep! Please! The Doctor will treat you later okay? Do you want me to help you to the room?" Rose rambled, guiding her to the TARDIS hallway heedless of her protests.

The Soldier's mind raced frantically, still running high on the adrenaline from before. She had tried to create a psychic link with the TARDIS. The link had _worked._ The TARDIS had come for her. Or had at least shown the Doctor that she was alive.

She was in the TARDIS. She wasn't going anywhere.

There was no way she would leave the TARDIS anymore.

 **AN: There was a teaser here before. I removed it since it's not part of the chapter anymore.**

 **Please review! Feedback is appreciated and a must for growing writers :).**


	14. The Town That Didn't Go Boom

The Town That Didn't Go Boom

The Soldier sat huddled on the bench staring at the multicolour fountain display. Her mind flashed to the last adventure, remembering the crippling ache that encased her body, proof of the meddling the scientists had indulged in. Ironically, she hadn't retained any mental trauma of the event when it was happening; that trauma was just the side note of what had truly affected her. Abandonment.

Logically she knew that it hadn't been intentional. They'd been running for their lives and they'd believed her dead. But afterwards when the trauma had set in, logic couldn't dissipate the sense of loss, rejection and anger that filled her. She'd been their willing sacrificial lamb, because the Doctor couldn't say no to Rose, because he was incapable of seeing the evils of interfering with other civilisations, _because the Doctor was a fool_.

Her self-pity rose and she tried to battle against the rising tide of hatred, resentment and guilt. She shook her head in attempt to clear her head and tried to get her rational mind in gear again. Why was she so easily affected by what had happened? Yes, she'd had horrible violence committed against her, her organs cut out from her and sewn in repeatedly. Yes, she'd been left behind. But these weren't the worst things that had happened in her life. She'd fought in countless battles, inflicted horrible pain onto others and received equal pain in return. She'd been left behind on team missions in Gallifrey, left behind on Earth by her TARDIS, left behind in life by Leila and Artis. None of this was new to her.

So why? On that scale, what happened this time was almost insignificant. But that still didn't change the mind-numbing terror that engulfed her at the thought of leaving the TARDIS, something that the Doctor, Jack and especially Rose had noticed. She had hidden in the TARDIS, cocooned away in the deepest rooms so that the Doctor and his crew wouldn't find her. She wanted to stay in, away from the adventures where she could be left behind.

The Doctor and his companions seemed to track her down and return things to normal but she remained stubborn; she resisted every attempt to get her out of the TARDIS. Their attempts were getting stronger and the Soldier found herself retreating into the depths of the TARDIS to keep them away.

As if on cue, the tell-tale echo of footsteps gave away her search party and the Soldier got up, exiting through a side door. She turned into another corridor and nearly bumped into Rose. The TARDIS wasn't on her side for this one.

"Hey, we were looking all over for you. Are you alright?" Rose asked concerned. The Soldier turned nonchalant, trying to pretend she wasn't playing hide and seek.

"Of course. Tell the Doctor I will be sitting out the next adventure. I want to look around the TARDIS. If something goes wrong while you are out, I can help from within."

Rose's expression shifted and the Soldier knew she hadn't fooled anyone. She suddenly felt exposed, ashamed that her vulnerability was so easily on display.

"We're not going on another adventure, we're just going to relax; Cardiff in the twenty-first century for some fish and chips. My time period! I can show you around the 21st century," She smiled with her teeth, an eager expression filling her face, "Don't worry. Nothing will go wrong. Though you can never be too sure with the Doctor." She murmured under her breath, giving the Soldier a cheeky wink that masked the concern in her eyes.

Were they changing course because of her? It humiliated her even more, because she was a soldier and she was stronger than this. But the shame didn't dampen her terror of leaving which only compounded her self-loathing. No matter the consequences, she would stay put in the TARDIS. The last adventure had showed her the danger of being left behind, of losing contact with this last piece of home. They couldn't force her out if she holed herself in the TARDIS.

The Soldier began walking away from Rose again only to reach the entrance to the Console room. The TARDIS wasn't heeding any of her wishes lately. But the TARDIS did follow the wishes of the Doctor. It suddenly dawned on her the amount of control the Doctor had over them. It was his ship, not hers to do as she pleased.

The Doctor was their leader. _Commanding officer._ Her mind acknowledged.

But that didn't change the fact that she wasn't ready to cruise back into their adventures. She needed time alone, time to recuperate. As she turned away from the Console room and brushed past Rose to lose herself in the TARDIS again, she felt a muscled arm come down firmly on her shoulder.

"Hey, listen. We're just going for some lunch while Rose gets her passport. I don't really know why she needs it, but we can use it as an excuse to see Earth in the 21st century. Just food; no running, no hiding and definitely no life endangering in the restaurant." Jack's deep voice rumbled quietly next to her ear, his gentle reassurances somehow making her more uncomfortable. She wanted to say that she had no problems with her life being in danger. She wanted to scathingly ask him to mind his own business. She wanted to say that her reasons for wanting to stay in the TARDIS were deeper than what he thought. But she held her tongue.

Her face must have shown her indignation because Jack withdrew his hand from her shoulder. She was about to turn away when _hi_ s voice interrupted. She turned to survey the Doctor, an odd feeling building up in her as her body turned alert.

The Doctor was wearing a builder's cap with a torch, his leather jacket at comical odds with his hat, clearly in the middle of tampering with the TARDIS as he entered their little group session. His baby blue eyes glinted with blanketed guilt upon meeting her intense alert eyes before smiling at everyone, masking his conflict at seeing her.

"Alright then. We're in Cardiff so the TARDIS can store up on some good ol' rift energy before we go see the rest of the universe! Rose, when is that Rickey boy coming along with your passport?" He paused, surveying the tense looks on everyone's face, "What's going on here? Is something wrong?" The exuberant expression of the Doctor turned to concern as Jack quickly darted a glance at the Soldier, hinting at the problem.

"No problems here, Doctor. I would rather sit one out in the TARDIS, if it is alright with you?" The Soldier ventured tentatively. She stiffened as she became conscious of her rigid and alert posture, in direct contrast to its earlier complacency.

"Nonsense! Come along with us, you can always look around the TARDIS later! The TARDIS will be recharging here for a few days anyways. We might as well enjoy Cardiff and everything it has to offer, starting with some lunch! Hurry along! No dawdling and standing around. Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me. Safest place in the universe." He paused in his excitement before looking at Rose reproachfully, "Oh right, we're still waiting for that Rickey boy. Well, might as well get to lining the circuit for the TARDIS."

"Alright, I will come." Her agreement was almost disregarded by the Doctor, and Jack gave her a small smile before following after the Doctor, claiming to know alternate methods to re-route the circuit. The Soldier was glad that those two hadn't noticed what was suddenly becoming very clear to her.  
Hopefully, Rose hadn't noticed either.

"You were awfully quick to agree. Who knew all it took was the Doctor to change your mind?" The Rose smiled and winked, her earlier good mood having returned at the prospect of going home.

Rose was clearly smarter than the Soldier gave her credit for, but she didn't respond. While Rose was intuitively clever, she didn't want to explain her behaviour, especially since she didn't know why this was true.

Why was she so quick to agree with the Doctor? Was it because she wanted to please the Doctor and carve her own place in the TARDIS? But that still didn't explain why her body reacted the way it did, the way it had been trained to her since her formative years.

As a soldier to her officer.

As she saw Rose's boyfriend, Rickey, enter and give Rose her passport, the Soldier mulled over her own discoveries. The idea didn't seem farfetched as she thought about it.

The Doctor had been a former President of Gallifrey and during the War, he was rumoured to have held one of the highest positions for his success rate in the battlefield. In comparison, she was just an ordinary soldier. She had been one among many, and even her title hadn't been unique in Gallifrey. It was likely she was regressing to her old habits of submitting to superior officers. Perhaps long buried instincts from the Gallifreyan army had woken in her. After all he was the leader of their ragtag group and had the spontaneity and brilliance of mind that reminded her of long dead Captains.

The Soldier snapped out of thoughts and nodded in acknowledgement as the boy, Mickey not Rickey, waved his greeting to her. She smiled as she noticed Mickey's eager rush to Rose. He wrapped his arms around Rose and gave a brilliant smile before turning a curious glance at her. The Soldier followed them out the TARDIS into 21st century Earth. She paused and quietly watched everyone as the Doctor explained the mechanics of rift energy. The Doctor noticed her pause, worry filling his eyes for a moment but he continued his explanation of rift energies and how it affected the TARDIS.

She stayed silent cataloguing the numerous changes from the 20th century. She couldn't help but notice the careful glances Jack and Rose directed her way. She had to stem down her flare of irritation. Just how delicate did they think she was?

They entered a cafe nearest the street corner and as she entered she quickly identified all the exits and possible threats in the room. This acute alertness had not been a part of her habits for a long time but travelling with the Doctor had trudged up all her Army instincts. She needed to plan for the safety of her and her partners, especially with the complete unpredictability of the adventures and problems they came across.

The Soldier squeezed into the seat next to Jack, finding comfort in his exuberant presence, while Rose sat next to Mickey, the Doctor seated on the other side of Mickey. The Doctor passed a warm glance at them all and the Soldier joined in the vibrant camaraderie, feeling a small smile pull at her lips.

"So what all did ya guys do? Where did you go?" Mickey asked Rose, a tentative smile pulling at his lips at Rose's enthusiastic grin.

"Well, where do we begin?" Jack passed Mickey a sly grin.

The Soldier smiled warmly, feeling the infectious excitement suffuse the table as Jack exuberantly recounted his tales, watching the shine in his bright sparkling eyes. She was falling into a trance, captivated by the boyish grin, his smooth voice vibrating with laughter as he spoke. Warmth suffused her bones as the camaraderie from before Soleda returned to her, the memory of their seamless teamwork returning. _This_ was why she had willingly played lab rat. Because of this feeling. She wasn't alone anymore. They were a team. Jack, Rose, the Doctor and her. A team.

A sudden movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned to see the Doctor frowning over a newspaper.

"And I was having such a nice day," the Doctor bemoaned, turning the paper to show a fat blonde woman attempting to cover her face.

The Soldier turned to the others confused as they all hurriedly got up, "Who is she?" Jack exchanged a clueless glance with her.

"I'll explain it to the both of you on the way,"the Doctor urged, hurriedly paying the bill before running out of the restaurant, crossing his arms impatiently as he waited for the rest, "The woman is from the Slitheen family in Raxacoricofallapatorius. They're calcium based life form currently disguised by using the skin of their victims and a compression field. Last time Rose and I met them-"

"I met them too! One of 'em came to the house!"

"-yes yes and Rickey. Last time, the Slitheen family tried to destroy the planet so they could harvest it for fuel." The Doctor turned back to look at them, and paused in his stride when he noticed that Red had completely stopped.

"That Slitheen female tried to destroy this planet?" The Soldier confirmed, uneasiness starting to grow in her. This was too soon for an adventure. Too soon.

"Yep," the Doctor gave her a reassuring smile, "But Rickey, Rose and I stopped them in the nick o' time. This time, she doesn't even know we're coming." The Doctor motioned towards her to hurry along.

"I-I," Shame crawled through the Soldier as she desperately thought of a way to say what she felt, "It seems you have this all figured out. I think I should go back to the TARDIS." The Soldier looked down, unable to meet everyone's gaze as humiliation crawled through her. But she wouldn't be left behind, especially not on Earth. Not again.

The Doctor stared at her intensely, evaluating her for a moment, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." She blurted, looking up at him quickly before looking away.

The Doctor came towards her, patted her head once before nodding, "Well okay then. Never really had anyone house sit the TARDIS before," he grinned at her, "well I s'pose there's a first time for everything."

The Soldier looked up, glad he had agreed before passing a quick glance at everyone else. Jack and Rose sported an understanding smile while Mickey stared at her in confusion. The relief faded as she watched them walk away, waving at her. The distinct burn of failure coursed through her and she clenched her trembling fists, fighting against her inner turmoil. She was better than this. Better than this weak terrified girl she was pretending to be.

The Soldier shook her head. Knowing the Doctor, he'd still need some help no matter what plan he came up with. She returned to the TARDIS, resolving to refresh her knowledge on Raxacoricofallapatorius lifeforms just in case.

o0o

It had been hours and the Soldier had long finished her perusal of Raxacoricofallapatorius lifeforms. She lay casually on the pilot seat, belying her alert state. This was one of the rare instances where she was alone with the TARDIS console with no one nearby. She eyed the console wonderingly.

That damnable horrid shaking that the TARDIS underwent each time it went in the time vortex was just unbearable. The Doctor should've fixed that problem by now if he had the manual...unless he _liked_ that horrid shaking of the TARDIS. It was impossible to tell with the Doctor.

The Soldier reluctantly got up from her seat and used one of the rare opportunities alone with the TARDIS to actually fix all the helpless tinkering the Doctor did. She opened the hatch, scanning the Time Vortex section first since it was the most important, and nearly banged her head as she unearthed the mess the Doctor had made it. No wonder the TARDIS bounced as she did. It was a miracle she managed to take them anywhere safely. Now she understood why the TARDIS needed to recharge on Rift energy, especially since there had never been such requirements before. If the TARDIS didn't have the Rift energy, she wouldn't be able to travel through the vortex, especially since the Doctor had bungled up the primary Vortex circuit, making it near impossible for the TARDIS to be self-sufficient.

Shaking her head at the Doctor's eccentricities, she set out to fix the circuit, pulling all the wires out in an attempt to start from the beginning. With the wires out, she started replacing them accurately, grateful for the years of experience with her own TARDIS, especially since _the Doctor didn't keep a manual for his ship!_ The Soldier bottled her outrage at his irresponsibility, trying to focus at the task at hand.

The TARDIS doors suddenly banged open, raised voices arguing back and forth. The Soldier froze, feeling like she'd been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. The Doctor wouldn't be alright with her tampering with his ship especially in his absence.

"I never stood a chance against you lot. This ship is superb." The large blonde woman whispered, turning in her spot to take in the full glory of the TARDIS. Jack herded the woman to the side, keeping his body alert towards the woman while searching around the TARDIS for something.

"Glad you realised it." Jack smirked condescendingly before catching the Soldier's eye. He gave her a relieved smile before his expression froze, panic flashed across his face after taking stock of what she was doing.

The Doctor noticed his expression and followed his gaze to where the Soldier sat buried deep in the TARDIS junk.

He rushed to her, a dangerous look passing over his features. "What were you doing?" The Doctor barked out, gritting his teeth as panic took over his features.

 _Fixing your ship. Fixing the TARDIS that you mess up all the time._ The Soldier thought defensively, but was unable to vocalise her thoughts because he didn't know she was a Time Lord. That she had the ability to fix his ship.

"I was just pulling out a few wires. I was just trying to help." The Soldier answered monotonously, hoping her indifference would calm him down.

"You can't just touch my TARDIS like that! You don't even know what you're doing! It's beyond your human sensibilities! Why? Why would you even touch my ship?!" The Doctor raged. Clearly, his ship was a trigger.

The Soldier turned to Jack, giving him a pleading glance for help. She didn't know how to react to an enraged Doctor, especially since she had done nothing wrong and was just trying to help him. Something she couldn't tell him.

Something from her expression must have reached Jack since he stepped forward to intervene, "Actually it was my idea. I thought we could connect the extrapolator to the TARDIS to shave off some time so I asked her to check compatibility." Jack passed a sheepish smile to the Doctor.

The Doctor frowned, calming down before passing an unreadable look to the Soldier, "It's not a bad idea. But next time remember that it's _my_ ship. You don't get to mess around with it when I'm not around." He turned to the Soldier, "And when were you even interested in-? You know what? Never mind." He waved his hand dismissively at her, shooting her another unreadable look before settling next to her to pick up all the wires scattered around.

The Soldier stood up, backing away from the area, unnerved by the awkward atmosphere. While what she had done was irritating to the Doctor, there was an underlying edge to the entire exchange. Something had happened earlier that had set him on the edge. She turned around, surveying the silent atmosphere before swiveling onto the railing, keeping a cautious eye on the captured Slitheen female.

The Doctor and his eccentricities. She could handle them. She could. The Soldier took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

She could handle it.

* * *

 **AN: So tension is building between the Soldier and the others. The fallout isn't going to be pretty.**

 **Thank you for reading. Feedback is welcome.**


	15. Ambiguous Morality

Ambiguous Morality

The Doctor pored over the circuitry of the TARDIS's primary engine, trying his best to ignore everyone in the room. Especially the big red blob that was reclining against the railing, watching him intently.

When Red walked through the military junkyard in 1942 London in her long flaring red coat, the Doctor had been befuddled. For a second, he thought he'd seen someone from back home, a Gallifreyan soldier marked by their signature red cape. Then the vision had dissipated as he saw the little girl in the woman's arms. The woman must have been a soldier from the tropics, a refugee fleeing war especially with that intimidating presence.

She had been silent, evaluating everything around her and in particular, him. He hadn't found it too odd, well accustomed to the assessing gazes of many. While Rose was dressed more outlandish than him, he knew he gave off an alien vibe, too distinguished to truly blend in anywhere.

But she'd approached him, with a face that was too vulnerable and raw, filled with emotions for _him_. She had called him _Doctor_ with that nostalgic expression and he'd understood.

She knew him personally in his future. It was a nightmarish thought especially since she was just human. What if she messed up and revealed more than she should? She didn't know the rules of Time.

She had quickly proven him wrong. She had saved the day, acting swiftly by possessing far more knowledge than she should have possessed. He had been relieved, if she was intelligent enough to act that quickly then she would certainly understand the constraints of Time and abide by them.

He could have left her behind….but he hadn't. If Rose could bring that fancy Time Agent who flirted way too much and had been the main reason for the incident in 1942, well he could certainly bring the person who had saved their skins.

Granted he'd figured out the nanogenes by then, but it was the principle of the matter. While bringing Red along would have a lot of complications, he really did see a lot of benefits in having her as a potential companion. Especially when compared to Mr. I Have A Perfect Smile.

But when Red had revealed how his future-self sent her to him and how her husband had died, he'd made an uncomfortable connection. While she hadn't overtly implied anything, those intense looks that Red gave him when she thought he wasn't looking, her desire to always please him and follow his orders all compounded to his rising suspicions: She wasn't just a companion, she was supposed to be something more. He wasn't ready for that, not yet. Not when he'd just lost everything and barely started piecing himself together. She wasn't in a better state, her melancholy and misery was clearly consuming her. He couldn't support someone the way he was now. That was why he needed Rose; she was the light to his darkness. He couldn't be Red's light, more importantly he didn't _want_ to be.

But he couldn't deny that she clearly needed someone to guide her. It just didn't have to be him.

He'd maintained a distance from her since that realisation, unwilling to get any closer but unable to completely detach himself from the possibility of happiness. As they started going on adventures, he had the startling revelation that _she didn't notice_ that he was avoiding her. She paid him the barest of attention, choosing instead to flock to Jack and sometimes Rose. Surprisingly, Jack and Red seemed to share an intuitive understanding of each other that others couldn't penetrate, rather like the connection between him and Rose.

He didn't like it. At all.

Even if he was avoiding her, she should have made an attempt to gain his attention, especially since _he_ had sent her. He knew he wasn't being fair, but that didn't change his irritation at her nonchalance. If she had been attracted to him in his future, then why wasn't she clamouring for his attention _now?_ Those thoughts seemed to reawaken his insecurities about this regeneration. He was aware that this regeneration wasn't particularly handsome, especially since he was in the older age spectrum. It wasn't even something he'd noticed until Rose came on board and made him realise that he was, well, _old._ He didn't mind, well not too much at least, especially since he thought he looked rather fantastic in his leather jacket and dashing in the biker look. Hmm...It'd been awhile since he'd taken out his anti-gravity motorbike….if he could just get his hands on Red's EMS, he'd be able to spice up his anti-gravity room by breaking down the components...but she already said she wasn't going to give him her EMS.

The Doctor shook his head, trying to get back his train of thought.

As time went on, he began to grow fond of Jack and Red, falling into the excitement and camaraderie that came from their adventures. He realised then that it wouldn't hurt to get to know her better, especially since she was so capable on their adventures, putting almost as much consideration into protecting their members as him.

And then _the incident_ had happened.

What always seemed to happen to him, without fail. He'd failed to protect his companion. He'd known when they'd arrived in Soleda that it was a dangerous planet. Yet he couldn't bring himself to ignore Rose's pleas to save the few slaves that he could. Rose had been right, if there was no one to give people hope, to show them freedom, then what was the point in living? 'We've gotta be better than them. Better than _everyone,_ so that we can dowhat is _right._ ' Those words from Rose had echoed through him, reaching a deep part of himself that he'd long forgotten.

But he knew his two other companions were apprehensive, even disapproving of the idea. They were jaded like him, knew that the universe wasn't that kind or generous. But he hadn't wanted to listen to them; he wanted to see the world through Rose's eyes, not theirs.

Their luck had quickly run out after that and all of them had been captured. Worse, rather than fixating on him, a _Time Lord_ , they'd focused on Red, a normal (well, _relatively_ normal) human soldier and _tortured_ her. He hadn't been able to wrap his mind around why they'd been taking her away until the obvious reason had been pointed out by Jack. Amongst their team, she stood out most for her physical differences and they'd tried to exploit that difference for information, proceeding to torture her when failing.

The worst part of it had been her detached response, as if she thought her life didn't matter, that she believed they thought she was expendable. He couldn't bring himself to confront her about it because he didn't know if it was true. But he sat worrying each time they took her away and desperately sought ways to sooth her pain when she got back. The guilt and horror had him frozen the first few days, rendering him incapable of forming an escape plan with his concern of her immediate health at the forefront of his mind.

Then she'd told him that they weren't _involved in that way_ and his guilt had shot through the roof mixed with a healthy dose of embarrassment. He'd been an idiot, making assumptions out of nothing and didn't that just make him a _fool._ He had desperately wanted to get her out after that, unable to stand that he'd misjudged someone so drastically, imagined and invented so much. He had assumed non-existent romantic connections and boxed her out because of his resultant awkwardness.

Much worse, he'd been told that she'd _died_ , and he couldn't hide the raw tortured grief that consumed him. That he had failed so spectacularly! He'd set the TARDIS off, unable to breathe and resolving to find her past self just so he could make reparation. Maybe this was how he had met her? Had he gone looking for her to assuage his grief and guilt?

On the verge of dematerialisation, the TARDIS hadn't been cooperating, pulling back to Soleda as if unwilling to leave. He'd gotten angry, furious at the TARDIS for misbehaving, but she'd shocked him back from the console, blinking her screen with a message as she travelled back to Soleda. Confused, he'd pulled the screen, only to find a lagging clip of Red running towards the TARDIS. Disbelieving, he'd routed back to Soleda, banging the doors open in a rush to save her life.

And there she had stood, tall and fearless against the Porki army. He'd grabbed her from the back, dragging her struggling body into the TARDIS, glad to find her alive and unharmed. She'd been shocked and traumatised but so grateful and he'd felt like such a tool, so selfish and self-absorbed.

She'd hidden in the TARDIS after that, and he couldn't bring himself to face her. He knew her mental and physical trauma needed to be treated, and so he'd set Jack and Rose after her, but he hadn't been able to begrudge Red when she had resorted to hiding. He'd allowed it, understood it even, and he'd put all their adventures on hold, trying to see if a vacation could coax Red into relaxing.

But time passed and he'd never been a patient man. He'd never had to _wait_ for anything. Well, mostly. The longer she took to calm down, the longer time he had to think, and that was never a good thing, not for him. Remaining still for too long brought back memories of the Time War, of his wonderful planet. The red grass, tall towers, the beautiful sky, his _people, his planet_ that he'd single-handedly destroyed.

He needed to run away, not linger on the horrible loneliness and guilt that plagued his mind. So he'd sought her out, silently ordering the TARDIS to reroute Red to the console room. He had urged her to join them. They were in Cardiff after all, where _nothing_ _ever_ happens.

He'd been pleased when she'd followed but when she'd turned back to the TARDIS, he felt doubts about her viability as a companion slowly creeping in. It wasn't a new thing; not everyone could handle the life in the TARDIS. Perhaps it would be best if he left her behind on Earth, away from the tumultuous TARDIS life so she could recover and lead a normal non-traumatic human life.

But when he'd returned to the TARDIS, he'd found her knee deep in the primary circuit of the TARDIS. The _primary processing circuit_ , which controlled navigation through the _time vortex_ and he was _enraged._ How dare she? She knew nothing of the TARDIS, nothing at all! He didn't allow anyoneto even _touch_ the console in his absence, and she'd gone rifling through the internal wiring.

How had she even known what the primary circuit was? It was then he realised that _he didn't know._ He didn't know _anything_ about her, nothing but her name and species. All he knew was that he wasn't _allowed_ to talk about it, that it was against his Senses. But…but what if that was a lie? What if the warnings his Senses were giving him were regarding the threat she posed in his future? That would make more sense, especially as he kept getting strong backlashes from his Senses every time she came near him. If she wasn't his future partner or a Time Lord, then such a feedback could also be from imminent danger.

He hoped that wasn't true. After all their adventures together, he detected a quiet dignity about her, a dedication to protect those she loved and uphold her morality, but he still didn't _know_ anything about her. Perhaps he was overreacting but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on her.

0o0o

The Soldier stood to the side of the console, keeping a vigilant eye on the prisoner while staying out of the Doctor's sight. Humiliation burned through her and she tried to reason through her embarrassment, fighting the hot feeling spreading through her skin. TARDISes were very personal and she knew that having a prisoner aboard was upsetting the Doctor. From what she'd seen, the Doctor wasn't a law enforcer, he was just a man trying to do the right thing. Sentencing a prisoner to death, no matter how deserving, didn't seem to be in his normal scope of things. It was okay, _okay._ His anger was probably misdirected. It wasn't really at her. Not really her fault.

But the fact that the prisoner was emotionally manipulating all of them didn't help either. Rose had disappeared off on a date with Mickey, avoiding the worst of the wait. With her gone, the Doctor turned quiet and brooding, focusing hard on the console primary circuit so he wouldn't have to interact with anyone else.

Bitterness swelled up inside her at the Doctor's cowardly behaviour. The Soldier had never been a coward. She'd never run from difficult decisions and always faced the consequences of her actions head on. She believed that everything she did made a difference, even if it wasn't always a good one, and accordingly always weighed all her actions before acting, like a _true_ Time Lord. So while she'd enjoyed the thrill of the adventures and the companionship, the thought of the aftermath of their adventures always made fear crawl through her spine. While they had occasionally saved a few civilisations, something that also made her nervous, the thought of not assisting in the aftermath made her more uneasy and conflicted. She was the Soldier, it was her duty to provide assistance during mayhem. Every whimsical upheaval they'd made in their adventures had torn her up inside, made her feel wrong in her own skin.

It made sense now. This was why she had been so affected, filled with conflict the past few weeks. Before their stint in the planet Soleda, she'd been able to ignore her doubts and discomfort about the Doctor's way of life. But when she was left behind to deal with the repercussions of a situation she'd been against from the beginning without the Doctor and his rose tinted vision, anxious fear had gripped her. Once her feeling of security had dissipated, she couldn't ignore that fear or her repressed feelings about the Doctor's lifestyle. The thought of going on more of those adventures, where all she did was disrupt people's lives wasn't palatable to her anymore. The feelings of abandonment had made these insecurities worse. She wasn't comfortable with how the Doctor did things. She couldn't do it.

Who was she, _what was she_ , if not a soldier? Before, it had been her duty to protect her planet's inhabitants. But with her planet destroyed, she'd devoted her service to the universe and its people. What she was doing now wasn't service. She was just frolicking around with the Doctor and his companions.

But _this,_ apprehending a Class 5 criminal for attempted destruction of a planet, this was her expertise. Something she'd been able to do since graduating the Army. _This_ contributed to the betterment of the universe.

"I gather it's not always like this then...having to wait?" The prisoner, Margaret drawled darkly distracting the Soldier from her thoughts, her plump face contorting into a hideous mix of mockery and thought, "I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family then ran for the stars, am I right?" Disgust marred her features. "At last you have consequences...how does it feel?"

"I didn't butcher them!" The Doctor denied, agitated.

"Don't answer back. That's what she wants." Jack scolded, turning discreetly to the Soldier to give her an exasperated look. The Soldier understood; the murderer was manipulating the Doctor and it was _working._

"I didn't," He repeated firmly, turning a calculating gaze to the Slitheen, "What about you? You didn't zap them to safety, did you?"

"The teleport only carries one," her face twisted, "I ended up on the Isle of Dogs-it isn't funny!" She yelled, turning her wounded expression at the laughing Doctor and Jack.

Both abruptly fell silent.

"Sorry. It is a bit funny." With that, both Doctor and Jack started sniggering again, and the Soldier watched as a dark expression passed over the Slitheen's face before joining them with forced laughter. As the Slitheen opened her mouth to speak, the Soldier cut her off,

"That is enough." A tone of finality ringing through her voice, "Do not fraternize with the criminal."

"Then how about a last meal? Don't I have my rights?" Margaret asked.

"Oh, like you won't try to escape!" Jack scoffed.

"Except I can't ever escape the Doctor, so where's the danger?" Margaret turned to the Doctor, taunting "I wonder if you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?"

"Strong enough." The Doctor retorted blankly, yet unable to completely hide his discomfort.

"I wonder," She continued as if he'd never spoken, "I've seen you fight your enemies, now, _dine with them_."

"You won't change my mind." He repeated, pulling his blank mask perfectly this time.

"Prove it." Margaret taunted, eyes glinting in challenge.

The Soldier felt a tide of rage rise up unbidden, both at the Doctor and their prisoner. Her _rights?_ The only thing required of them was to ensure that their prisoner reached their destination _alive._ Sometimes, not even that. Sure, they were required to see to the basic health of the prisoner but they were under no obligation to _indulge_ their prisoner. She should be grateful that she wasn't tied up inside a jail cell for the crimes she'd tried to commit!

Jack was right; it was obvious that the prisoner was up to something, especially since she was baiting the Doctor so. What infuriated her even more was that the Doctor was rising to her bait. She _knew_ that he did not have that ruthless capacity. He never would. He was about saving people, not sentencing them to _death._ As horrible as it sounded, this was _her_ domain. She'd been dealing with lawbreakers and psychopaths of the tallest order for _centuries_ , even from her early years in Gallifrey. The Doctor had _no idea_ what he was dealing with. The Slitheen was attempting textbook manipulation of her captors and he was inexperienced and naive enough to _fall for it._

"There will be no last meal," the Soldier growled out, barely controlling her anger, "Be grateful that you are not restrained in a dark cell for the crimes you tried to commit."

The Doctor turned to the Soldier, surprised at her vehemence. He frowned in disapproval, "A last meal is within her rights."

Indignation burnt her body, and she valiantly fought against the urge to disagree, trying to present a united front to the prisoner so that their differences couldn't be exploited. She'd angered him once already and she loathed doing it again. But he was _wrong_.

"There are people out there. If she manages to slip away, even for a second…" the Soldier reasoned, desperately trying to squash her mutiny, "It is counter-productive to our aim in keeping people safe from her."

Jack pulled out a pair of bangles and waved them; Tech-Cuffs, used to prevent criminals from venturing more than ten feet from their captor.

"Well…" Jack began hesitantly, "I do have these." The Soldier wanted to tear her hair out in helpless frustration.

Why were they always humouring the Doctor's whims?! He was _wrong! Wrong wrong wrong!_ If you gave criminals an inch, they'd take a mile. The Soldier would have understood the Doctor's moral conflict if there had been a doubt of the criminal's innocence, but this was a criminal who had attempted to destroy his _favourite_ planet Earth, _twice._ Margaret was twice damn guilty and he bore witness to it.

"No." The Soldier bit out, trying to control her temper and ultimately failing, "She is not leaving the TARDIS!"

Jack stepped back in alarm, placing the Tech-Cuffs back down slowly in an attempt to placate her. The Doctor glared at her, sending Jack a disapproving look.

"She's been sentenced to death. A last meal is basic rights and I'll be there to keep an eye on her." The Doctor stated firmly, tone brooking no argument.

The Soldier twitched, unwilling to disobey such a direct order. She watched as he approached the console, reaching out to pick up the Tech-Cuffs and her eyes locked onto the Doctor's and she read the turmoil in his. He looked up into her eyes and quickly looked away.

And that was it.

A dam broke inside her, bitterness and rage pouring out in waves. Every repressed feeling, swallowed retort, denial; the discontent that had been building at the Doctor's whimsical, irresponsible and unreasonable requests and adventures, the chaotic mess that they left behind in every place they visited that she'd desperately tried to ignore, all of it ignited her rage, turning gritty irritation to blood thrumming rage.

The Soldier strode forward and cut off the Doctor's way to the prisoner snatching the Tech-Cuffs away from the Doctor.

"Just because you are a coward, does not mean you do the wrong thing!" The Soldier spat out, cuffing the prisoner's wrist to the bannister with the Tech Cuff, ensuring she couldn't go too far from the console room.

"What do you think you're doing?" Startled, the Doctor took a step forward.

"Guys, stop it. Don't fight. Red, cool it, you know how he is." Jack interrupted, moving between the two to placate them.

"You can't just ignore last requests, especially of those on death row!" the Doctor reprimanded, hands crossed aggressively across his blue undershirt and leather jacket, "You can't just dismiss morality because it's inconvenient!"

"Doctor, do you understand her crime? She tried to destroy a whole planet! That means killing _all its inhabitants_ , and she didn't do this once, but twice! That's Class A level 5 crime! We can't treat her like some run of the mill criminal, she is highly dangerous!" The Soldier paused, noting the sudden vulnerability in the Doctor's defensive posture. His blue eyes looked ancient, filled with shame, an abyss of hurt and grief shining through.

She was right. Despite the many horrors the Doctor had witnessed, he was desperate to keep his jaded innocence. He wanted to experience only the good of the universe and run from the bad.

But she wasn't like that. She couldn't be. She _refused_ to be.

If he was too afraid to do the right thing then she'd do it for him.

The Slitheen prisoner was the root of the problem. It was because of the prisoner that the Doctor and she were fighting and the prisoner was too dangerous to leave unsupervised.

The solution was simple really, in the end. The Slitheen was the problem and thus needed to be eradicated. And though the Doctor was being stubborn, she knew that deep down he agreed with her.

"The Slitheen female is too much of a liability. We can't let her live." The Soldier intoned, a professional blankness sealing over her features. The Doctor blinked in surprise at the sudden change.

"Well, obviously-"

"It's so easy for you to condemn me, isn't it. Are you that clean, that innocent?" Margaret drawled, her spite transforming into fear upon meeting the Soldier's cold gaze.

"What is your name?" The Soldier asked abruptly, ignoring the prisoner's questions. She stalked towards the prisoner, looming over her intimidatingly.

The prisoner recoiled, trying to edge away from the suddenly dangerous figure, "M-Margaret Blaine." She winced at the stutter, grimacing at the Soldier's next words.

"Your real name. Not the one you stole."

"Pom Fel Fotch Pasameer Day Slitheen."

 _Krisssscht._

The Soldier watched as Pom's head rolled on to the floor, the TARDIS wire she'd used to decapitate the prisoner dripping with sticky white liquid. She stared at the severed head and the dripping wire, refusing to look up.

Her hands were shaking because of the force required to decapitate with a wire. It wasn't because of the Doctor's expression. Not because of the Doctor's horrified rage she could see in her peripheral vision. Her vision tunnelled to the TARDIS wire. Anything could be used to kill. That was one of the most important lessons of the Army.

The Doctor's face twisted as he watched the seemingly human head split, the skin peeling apart to reveal a Slitheen head, the compression field dissolving from the body. A pool of white liquid, _blood_ , spread slowly across the TARDIS, staining the floors.

There was a heavy silence.

"Y-You-Red-what have you done?!" The Doctor thundered, voice hitching in disbelieving horror.

The Soldier looked up finally, still frozen. A crippling uncertainty suddenly struck and she turned to Jack for reassurance. That she'd done the right thing. But he was staring in horrified fascination at the decapitated Slitheen body.

"Red!" The Doctor was recovering his momentum. The intense rage and sense of danger emanating from the Doctor snapped Jack out of his fixation, and he looked frantically between her and the Doctor.

"Huh," Jack intervened quickly, "Didn't know you could do that, decapitate someone in a compression field. Wonder how that happened." Then he winced, realizing he hadn't really helped the situation but he'd been caught off guard. He really hadn't been expecting that.

The Soldier noticed that her hands were still shaking, a sudden feeling of displacement combining with a horrible paralysing fear. She was scared. _Petrified of the Doctor._

Not about how would injure her because she'd been in more drastic and urgent situations than this. She didn't think the Doctor had it in him to physically harm her. But this fear, pervading every inch of her skin, was for the amount of power he had over her. She had too much to lose. If she lost him; if he sent her away, she had nobody else. There was no one else important in the universe and she would have lost the one thing that reminded her of home. Him.

Jack must have pitied her fear because he moved to stand in front of her, "Look, I know this is bad but calm down. Just look at her. She's shaking."

"What happened, it's not acceptable! It's not okay!" The Doctor marched forward, anger blinding his vision as he shoved Jack aside, "What gives you the right to take her life?! We _don't kill people_! Have you not realised that by now?! We are not executioners!"

When silence met him, the Doctor roughly placed his arm on her shoulder and shook her, "Say something!"

She snapped out of it, jerking away from him. Her forgotten anger returned with a vengeance.

 _How dare he._

"Coward. That is what you are. Nothing but a spineless coward." Venom spilled from every word.

"If not killing makes me a coward, then I'd rather be a coward forever!"

She continued as though he'd never spoken, "You go around giving chances to people who do _not_ deserve it, as though they left no victims, no collateral. That woman tried to blow up a planet, twice!" Her rage sharpened her focus, "Every time you let a criminal go, you endanger everyone else that is innocent. That chose to live the right way. Maybe you are protecting the wrong _sort_ , Doctor. Why not focus on the civilians, _the victims_ , instead of protecting people that try to commit _genocide._ Your way of thinking is useless, insane! Like sparing a Dalek and not thinking of what that would _do_ , how that would lead to so much _more_ death."

The Doctor's expression twisted and she couldn't decipher it. There was self-righteousness and something else. Something dark. His words dripped with condescension, "I did. I spared a Dalek. Things are never as black and white as we want them to be, Red. Even a Dalek can change."

For a second, she was unable to comprehend him, the words too outlandish. Then it did make sense and she was about to laugh at the ridiculousness of that suggestion. He had to be joking….but he wasn't. He was serious.

A Time Lord had spared a Dalek. Daleks, the species believed to be the incarnation of pure hatred. Daleks that tried to destroy every other species. That had succeeded with Gallifrey.

" _What?_ " She wanted to say more, about how things _were_ easily quantifiable but her anger robbed her speech. Things were black and white _and grey_ , but that's why punishments and the law were in all those shades too. There was leniency and mercy, but only to those that deserved it. Things in life were complex, but not that complex either.

But he had spared a Dalek.

When did mercy become generous? When did it become foolhardy?

Sparing a Dalek was….that kind of idealism was past idiotic. It was pathetic.

And…

They had destroyed Gallifrey.

Why had he even _shown_ mercy?

Something in her expression must have spurred the Doctor to say more, aware that his words were difficult to digest.

"I started out trying to kill the Dalek, was almost going to, but Rose stopped me. Showed me the right thing to do." His eyes shone with admiration for Rose and the Soldier fought a vicious scoff. "Anyone can become a Dalek. All it takes is blinding hatred. If a Dalek can change, it makes you think, doesn't it? That the rest of us buggers have a chance to be better too?" He gave her a stiff smile that was filled with emotions she couldn't decipher.

Was he comparing her to a Dalek? Was he saying that a Dalek was more capable of redemption then _her?_ Both thoughts offended her on a deep level. Was this what he thought of her?

"Oh really?" She bit out with vicious sarcasm, "How about the lives the Dalek took before it chose to reform? Where's the justice in _that?_ How about the Time Lords that died, Doctor? That sought to protect the universe? Where's the justice in their _death_ when you compare it to _the Dalek's holy calling to exterminate_?"

The Doctor broke into mad laughter and tears filled his eyes. There was something in his countenance, something dark and dangerous yet extremely fragile. But she ignored it. His eyes were roving over her in dark contemplation as his laughter started to die down. "You think you know a lot about Time Lords, don't you?" His smirk was cruel and filled with hidden meaning. Why couldn't she read him? "Time Lords weren't as honourable as people thought them to be. At least not towards the end. War changed them quite a bit. Maybe into something worse than Daleks. Don't try to tell me about my own people, Red. I've been through the Time War, seen things, done things you can't even imagine. I give second chances because I know how important second chances are."

"What happened to the Time Lords during the War?" She asked, suddenly off-centre. This was the first time he'd offered information about the Time Lords, however ill-timed. No matter the circumstances, she had to know.

He ignored her question, his face twisting into wounded defensiveness as he continued, "You. Get out of my TARDIS."

"Why? Because you-"

"I said GET OUT!" The Doctor slammed the TARDIS console with his fist, a deep gong echoing through the console before the doors suddenly slammed open.

"Why? Why do you always do this!" She yelled, finally losing control of her emotions, "Throwing me out like I mean nothing. Always, always leaving me in the dark, in the middle of nowhere!"

The Doctor glared at her, uncompromising, "Because you and I, we're too different. You're an immoral killer and _I'm not._ "

The Soldier bristled, _she knew it was true,_ and tried to stifle the panic that was threatening to drown out her anger because while he might be right, she was right too, "Morals? Whose morals? Yours? Mine? Or the intergalactic law's?" The Soldier's eyes burned intensely as she stared him down, "In all the adventures we had so far, you committed so many crimes in so many societies and you were right only by your own moral code. That kind of arrogance, disregard for other races, how moral does that make you? Do you think being a Time Lord gives you the right to dictate how other civilisations should live? Let me tell you," the Soldier approached the Doctor, lightly shoving him with each following word, "You. Do. Not. Have. That. Right." The Doctor caught hold of her hands, putting a stop to her actions, "I did nothing wrong. I followed the Intergalactic Law and eliminated a threat to an entire species."

"That. That is why you don't deserve to be on this ship." The Doctor gave a hard jerk and the Soldier fell back in wounded shock.

" I can't take this anymore. Jack, get rid of her." The Doctor turned to leave but stopped abruptly when he felt a harsh tug on his leather jacket.

"You cannot do this to me. Not you." The Doctor analysed her face, taking in her rage and crazed desperation.

"Doctor, I don't think this is a good idea-"

"Tell me Jack, would you have done what she did? Not only did she play executioner, she completely disregarded my orders. My ship, my rules." Despite addressing Jack, he didn't look away from her face, watching as her expression slowly turned to defeat.

"She wasn't wrong. You can't just kick her out because she made one bad decision!" Jack argued, watching with worry as the Soldier slowly stepped away from the Doctor.

"Answer my question, would you have done what she did?"

Anguish warred with accusation on Jack's face as he caught the Soldier's gaze.

"Enough." The Soldier couldn't stand the underhanded humiliation that the Doctor was trying to dish out. However she felt about him, no matter how important he was, it meant nothing if he could cast her aside so easily.

As the Soldier approached the console, the Doctor blocked her way.

"The doors are that way. Leave." The Doctor turned his cold gaze away, looking to the side, "Rose will deliver your things so don't bother looking for your stuff. Get out."

The Soldier stared at him uncomprehendingly for a second then turned to leave, trying desperately not to give into the urge to beg for forgiveness. Or even to turn around and take a last look at the TARDIS, because she knew the moment she did, she would be lost.

Step, step. Open air.

TARDIS doors banging shut.

 **AN: This chapter took longer than I thought it would to come out.**

 **So, any guesses on which Doctor will be next? And companion too, if you can.**

 **I realise the transition from Soldier and Red can be confusing, but Nine, Jack and Rose only know her as Red, but narratively she's the Soldier.**

 **Thank you for being so patient. The next chapter is under development and will hopefully be out by the end of the month.**


	16. And Then There Were None

**AN: Sorry for the delay guys! There were major upheavals in my life with regards to home, work, life and study.**

 **On another note, my beta is unable to continue due to real life so I'm up for a new beta. Please PM me if you're interested.**

 **On that note, please do pass me criticism on this chapter. It's UNBETA'd.**

 **Thank you and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Only my OCs.**

 **Any references to cultural/religious icons are for story purposes only and are not meant to offend.**

 **Warning: Not responsible for binge reading.**

* * *

Chapter 15:

 **And Then There Were None**

The Soldier sat quietly at the bench watching the TARDIS. It parked in the middle of Roald Dahl Pass. The Doctor or even Jack would definitely come out, to bring her back. They would. She turned away and caught a glance of her reflection against the murky glass of a cafe across the street. A chocolate skinned woman stared back, her dark brown eyes hollow and her expression frozen in apathy.

The Soldier shifted her gaze to look at the sky, laying her head at the handle of the bench as she contemplated her future.

Her worst fears had come to pass. The horrible part was acknowledging that deep down she had known this was inevitable. Despite the emotional turmoil she was expecting, logic held her emotions at bay. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong. The Doctor and she were _too different_. He was a struggling pacifist who was trying his best to live by his ideals and she was a soldier who did what was necessary. This clash in ideals was inevitable.

It didn't matter that she'd caught a glimpse of his pain, a pain that seemed so similar to hers. He was untouched by the evils of the universe and she was entrenched deep in them. She thrived in the darker pits of the universe, meting out punishments to the unworthy but the Doctor was her antithesis; a healer, the bringer of light.

 _But why did he have to be so stubbornly naive?!_ He was quick to denounce anyone who had beliefs different from him and perhaps that had fuelled her anger. Despite their differences, she had thought that they understood each other. But only she understood him. He'd never even attempted to understand her.

She snapped out of her thoughts and turned her gaze back to the blue box. Despite what she told herself, she couldn't make herself walk away from the TARDIS.

And really wasn't it just a fight? The Doctor was just mad. He'd take her back wouldn't he? He was still here…. _he was still here_.

Or he could be waiting for Rose.

She sighed, holding her head in her hands. The cool rationality was slowly fading and the rising tide of emotions had her pulling her hair. Angry, she was supposed to be angry. All these other emotions, her guilt, shame and loneliness, well they just didn't matter, did they? She didn't want to go back to that kind of life. That careless irresponsible life. She liked them and their company but she couldn't live like that. She couldn't _…._ or… could she?

The bone-deep shaking of the ground broke her from her thoughts and she looked up to see a bright light shooting out from the TARDIS bulb. Alarmed, she stood quickly to help when she felt someone's hand on her arm pulling her back down. Responding instinctively her hands caught the offending hand and turned around to face her assaulter.

"Doctor?" She whispered, her breath catching in her throat in her disbelief. The Doctor. And not the one who'd just thrown her out, this was the Doctor from the Moon whom she had failed back in her Shadow Proclamation days.

"Soldier." He gave a pained smile and to her horror, tears pooled in his eyes as if he was incapable of stopping them.

Her weak anger disappeared in a flash. She stepped tentatively towards him but halted when a stray thought passed her mind.

"You are not supposed to be here. Do you know how many rules you are breaking just by being here?"

He continued to stare at her with that tortured smile on his face and she grew uncomfortable, unsure what to do with this kind of attention. "I might have an idea. But don't worry, I'm only stopping by." The Doctor's smile disappeared as he looked beyond her shoulder.

With a start, she remembered the mysterious white light emitting from the rift and turned to see the TARDIS back to normal, the rift clouds fading away. She had missed what had happened! What if something was wrong with Jack and the Doctor? The TARDIS?

Rose's figure was dashing through the square towards the TARDIS. The TARDIS door banged open and Rose disappeared inside, causing a jolt of anxiety to run through the Soldier.

 _I am being left behind!_

It took a moment for her to get a grip on her terror.

 _It is alright. The Doctor is right next to me. There is nothing to fear._

In an attempt to reassure herself, she turned to the Doctor next to her only to find a desperate look of longing on his face as he stared at the TARDIS. Panic consumed her and she turned to run towards the TARDIS as she heard it dematerialising.

His arm reached out and pulled her back again.

She turned to him with a vengeance. "What do you think you are doing?!"

"Red, listen to me. You can't go with me - him I mean."

"Why not? Why are you stopping me? Why am I never good enough for you?"

The Doctor stared at her nonplussed before shaking his head fervently, "No, that's not it! Use your Senses, you aren't allowed on that TARDIS right now. You'll be intercepting your own timeline!"

The Soldier pulled out of his grip and closed her eyes to confirm his words. She expanded her Senses and the buzzing that warned an approach of your past or future self finally faded. She sighed, realizing her mistake.

"Why are you here Doctor? Last time you saw me, you made it abundantly clear that you wanted nothing to do with me." The resigned look on the Soldier's face made the Doctor flinch.

"That was then," the Doctor moved closer to her, "Red, don't take his words to heart. I barely remember what I said, and in hindsight I was probably-"

"What do you want from me?"

"It's not- I don't-"

A burst of golden light emanated from the Doctor and he folded over in pain, cradling his stomach. Horror swept through the Soldier's features as realisation dawned. It was always, always like this. She could never be with him because there was _always_ something that prevented it. And this time he was dying, maybe even for good.

 _No! No, not this again!_

"Is this your goodbye?! Is that why you came to see me? I can tell that you know I am a Time Lord. You have never come looking for me before. You would not be here otherwise. What are you going to tell me? Am I going to be the last Time Lord? "Her voice rose to a shout at the last words, unable to contain her fury.

The Doctor looked up, his gaze pained. She watched, empty numbness taking over her again as he stumbled towards the bench she had been resting on before.

"It's not like that. The next is my last. I just wanted to see you one more time before...changing."

"Will you take me with you?" She asked directly, tired of walking on eggshells every time they spoke.

He stared at her for a moment before looking away, his face twisting in discomfort. That was answer enough for her.

"I see." Rejection washed over her anew.

It always came back to the same thing, didn't it? He didn't care about her as much as she did him, if he even cared at all. She had been right to walk out of the TARDIS after all.

 _What was she doing?_

Why was she forcing her presence on someone who couldn't care less? It would be best if she got up and left. If he ever wanted to see her then he knew where to find her. And unlike him, she would be welcoming and warm and not set up rules to qualify for spending time with her.

The Soldier approached the Doctor and placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. She gave him the barest of smiles in farewell before turning around, walking away.

" _Please_ , don't walk away. Don't leave me alone, not you, not now." The desperate plea had her turning around slowly.

He was regenerating...dying, and he didn't want to be alone. She shouldn't leave him, not right now.

She took a step back to him then halted.

But he didn't deserve her unconditional generosity.

He had abandoned her in WWII England on Earth right after she'd lost Artis.

 _She knew, better than most, what it meant to be alone._

He had always refused to take her with him. The one exception, the one time he'd agreed, and here she stood, used and discarded like garbage.

 _To have had everything and then lose it all in a second. And all she had wanted in her last moments was just someone to understand, to ease the pain._

It didn't matter that she couldn't cross her timeline, since in the end it was because he'd thrown her out. Cause and effect.

 _If she left him now, then it could be the very reason that he always rejected her._

But what had happened then couldn't change; it was already set in stone. So what if he didn't understand her actions now? He would eventually.

And just once, she wanted him to know what it felt like to have your desperate pleas ignored. To have the sole survivor of your kind walk away from you like you meant nothing.

* * *

0o0o0

Rose. Donna. Martha. Jack. Sarah. Mickey. Will. _Master._ His hearts squeezed in pain.

They were all gone now. He was forgotten, left behind by them all. He was dying and there was nobody next to him.

Save the world, the universe and _always be the last man standing._ Only him and his TARDIS.

But no, there was still one person left. There was _her._ The good obedient Soldier from Gallifrey. The typical Gallifreyan soldier who followed the rules regardless of the consequences.

He'd taken particular care to choose a time before the Soldier had found out the truth about who had really destroyed Gallifrey. He'd only been able to pin her in this timeline since he had remembered his predecessor watching her sitting on that bench.

He watched anxiously as she halted in her stride. Her eyes grew cold and empty and suddenly he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"It might be best if you go back to your TARDIS alone. It is widely believed that the last regeneration is the most unstable. You know which planet I am in if you need me." With a nod, she turned and strode off into the night, not looking back.

And then there were none.

Defeat clung to his shoulders as he slowly stood up. He didn't want to go, not like this. Alone and forgotten.

He trudged towards the TARDIS hidden one block away from Roald Dahl Pass. He entered his TARDIS and removed his brown coat, hanging it on top of the pilot seat. He brought the TARDIS into orbit around the Earth. This was the end as prophesized by the Ood seers. It was unavoidable. There was nothing he could do about it.

So many people throughout his life and not one at his death.

Not like this. It shouldn't be like this. If only he had more time, if only he could really say goodbye! Tears pooled in his eyes.

"I don't want to go."

Golden yellow light filled the TARDIS.

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier came to a stop two blocks down, the high from her emotions fading away. What was she going to do now?

The fear of the unknown had her sliding into an alley to calm down. She had done this before in the 1930s and she could do it again.

She closed her eyes, trying to take inventory of everything she knew about the 2000s. The only information her Senses could provide was that this millennium marked the beginning of the Digital Age.

Microchips, nanochips and soon picochips would come in. The internet was in full swing and mobile phones had VOIP. London had CCTV surveillance since 1994.

It would be much harder to pass as a real human now than in the 1940s, but not that much harder. To avoid notice from any government agency, she would have to take a low profile job to survive, pass unseen among the masses. And with the Doctor's frequent visits to this planet, there was bound to be a government agency monitoring alien activity.

With a sense of purpose, her mind cleared. She exited the alley and began a slow walk into town.

It was time for reconnaissance. She needed to gain knowledge about the culture and create a mental layout of Cardiff.

As the Soldier entered a busy street, a running man crashed into her, the momentum toppling her over. Irritation rushed through her as she took stock of the grey coat that mimicked her own red coat and she stood up, ignoring the hand held out in front of her. She looked up into the man's face and gasped.

"Hey I know you! Red!" Jack cried out, his face stretching into a full blown smile.

"Jack!" A smile spread across her face as relief spread through her. Unable to help herself, she threw herself at him, encompassing him in her hug. A sudden wrongness had her moving abruptly away from him.

"What happened to you? You are…" She stopped, unwilling to call him an abomination. But she couldn't stand to _look_ at him. It was off-putting, nauseating and _unnatural._ "Are you a fixed point in time?" She asked in revulsion, unable to morph her expression into something pleasant.

"Now that's not a common expression I get from women. Usually they swoon, oh and you're swooning too! But not in wonder, that looks like you're trying to run away from me." Jack's teasing had an edge of caution so she tried to pull herself together. She wanted to _kill_ him. Regardless of what he meant to her, his presence was an abnormality in the universe. How could a human be a fixed point in time?

She quelled her violent urges and tried to focus on _Jack_. She _knew_ Jack and being an ex-Time Agent, he wouldn't have voluntarily undergone something like this. She sometimes wondered if she had picked up Artis's quick temper because her tolerance in this form was unusually less.

"Why are you here?" She quickly added, "And why are you a fixed point in time Jack?"

"What?" His cheerful expression into discomfort as he answered, "I'm looking for the Doctor. The last time I remember him on Earth was here after…" He looked at her and trailed off awkwardly. He swiftly changed topic after seeing her downcast expression.

"I don't know what happened to me. I remember dying…" As Jack launched into the tale, they started walking to the pier. She remembered most of what had happened but Jack's perspective gave her a new understanding of the events. But even Jack couldn't tell her what had happened after the wall had collapsed on her.

"I missed him again, didn't I?" Jack ventured and she shook herself from her daze. There was a lot common between her and Jack. Both of them pursued the Doctor only to be hazed and abandoned at the worst possible time.

Her silence spoke volumes and she suppressed her flinch as she felt him slouch in defeat next to her.

"It's still fresh for you, isn't it Red? Do you have any place to stay? Do you want to work with me in Torchwood?"

"Torchwood?"

"It's the earth version of the Interspecies Agency, though they are more interested in keeping Earth off the grid than anything else."

That didn't sound like something she wanted to be a part of. Human leaders were still xenophobic regarding their own species and she didn't think bringing notice to herself by joining such an agency would be good for her.

"No, Jack. I am done with that life. I want to try a normal human life away from violence." His face twitched in confusion at her use of human, but she shrugged it away. There were already little hints that pointed to her being non-human but she didn't care to be cautious around him. He was a 54th century human and their open-mindedness put hers to shame. It was also rather unlikely they would meet again. Jack was searching for the Doctor and she was steering clear of him.

"What do you have in mind?" He prodded gently. It was kind of him to be concerned about her stay on Earth. But he still thought of her as a human so it wouldn't be too difficult to make him believe she already had an established life on Earth.

"Work, perhaps meet somebody and settle down." As she said those words, she suddenly realised how true it was. She wanted to have a home and live a normal mundane life.

Something in her gaze must have given her away because the next moment she felt Jack's arms hugging her consolingly.

"It's really difficult to return to normality after being with the Doctor. But it is possible. Take it one day at a time." He squeezed her harder and she returned the gesture, feeling less alone.

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier smiled sadly at Jack as he pecked her on her cheek before departing with a cheeky wink. She'd contemplated asking for his help to set up but thought it best if no one knew the true status of her species and situation. Perhaps she could seek him out once she'd settled down but until then it was best to lay low. She was finding it difficult to extend that much trust to anybody right now.

It was high time she tried to find valid identification. She grumbled the loss of ease that psychic papers provided and pulled out her EMS and tried to find the closest source to the Internet. While routers and broadband had already been released in London, Cardiff still predominantly had dial-up users and she grumbled at the abysmal speed as she connected remotely after hacking into a nearby user's dialup connection. Briefly, she entertained creating a program to send larger packets of data to increase the speed but shut down the idea when she realised that such an action would be easily picked up by any ISP.

Disgruntled by the slowness, she disconnected and set off in search of an agency that would provide her valid identification. It was best if she connected to the local network of the government agency itself, on the very small chance that if they detected her hacking, it would be obscured among the daily activities of the establishment.

Despite what humans rationalised to themselves, they were very adept at spotting those that stood out from the crowd, those that were too different. What they did afterwards was a point of contention but she preferred a hands-off approach on such things. She didn't care to be singled out and her new mission was to remain below the radar, have a few deserved years of peace from the mayhem of the universe - _the Doctor-_.

Arriving at the government building, she discreetly eyed the security cameras and the security guard who was giving her a wary look before she sighed. She decided to forego her initial plan of hypnotising someone to do her job. Hypnotism was an unreliable skill that was best used for surprised and unguarded victims. It was a much greater risk if the target was already cautious and usually the skill tended to backfire in such situations. Regardless of the species, self-preservation and survival would always be paramount and usually these instincts took over to break any hypnotism done when the victim's suspicions were already raised.

Again she cursed the luxury of the Doctor's psychic papers before entering the establishment, giving a polite nod to the security guard watching her suspiciously. She strode over to the receptionist, ready to implement plan B.

"Excuse me, miss."

The receptionist looked up and gave a contrived smile as she held a phone to her ear while scribbling something on the pad in front of her. She nodded quickly, gesturing for the Soldier to continue and the Soldier contemplated how much attention she was actually giving her. Well, all the better for her.

"My belongings were stolen, including my identification documents. I want them reissued."

"Citizenship?"

"British."

"Level 3." The receptionist gave her a doubtful look before dismissing her with a casual wave.

Entering the lift, she pulled out her EMS and hacked into the local network, easily creating her new identity. The hardest thing was trying to create a human name, settling for Red Black to pay homage to her first human friend. The Soldier settled in the sofa after chatting briefly with an officer, waiting patiently for the officer to print her 'lost' credentials.

 _Leila…_

It had been centuries since she last thought of her and it dredged up deep nostalgia. What she had been then and what she was now was almost too different for her to compute. She owed her best changes to Leila, Artis - _Why did he have to die? Why did he save me-_ and, however reluctant she was to admit it, the Doctor. But what was she now? Everything was so muddled and so much had happened since then. She didn't feel like a soldier, almost felt like she didn't deserve that title. All she'd done since seeing the Doctor was chase after his shadow. She didn't even know what she wanted from him. The companion life - _that he never offered her_ \- was not for her.

She was sick of the killing, the adrenaline and high stress situations. She wasn't even sure she wanted to retain her title, feeling rather strongly like she'd failed every ideal that it once held. She just wanted to breathe, feel like something was familiar, like _home._ She'd lost Gallifrey but that didn't mean she couldn't make her own small place in this universe.

What did she want? _What did she want?_

She tried to objectively take stock of herself. While her physical condition and skills were exemplary for combat, her present mental condition was not optimal. No, that was an understatement. She was depressed and was still suffering from PTSD from Artis's death. If she was not herself but a superior officer, she would recommend some downtime to unwind and get her head straight.

Downtime it was. Duration? As long as she _wanted._

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier walked idly by the 'Hiring' posters, trying to discern which occupations passed as invisible in this time period. She had done quick mental calculations about money once she'd received her documents. She could just bypass the hardware of ATM machines and just take the money but that didn't really lead to a _peaceful_ life if she got caught. If she changed her internal metabolism from human back to Time Lord, she'd only need sustenance once in three days, five if she pushed it. But any scanning software would easily pick up her species difference, especially since Time Lord bodies read differently even on infra-red systems.

But if she picked a low-key job, this really wouldn't be a problem. Human technology, while rapidly growing, still hadn't become anything she couldn't override almost instantaneously. So she could go back to her Time Lord physiology.

Her aimless walk led her to Cardiff University and she passively entertained the idea of being a lecturer or student before dismissing it immediately. A local cafe in the vicinity seemed to be exceedingly popular and had an ad asking for waitresses.

The Soldier stood, contemplating the name New Beginnings cafe, before shaking her head in amusement. She was going to take that as a sign from the universe.

She entered to find the cafe bustling with young adults waiting in line or chatting with their peers. The staff behind the counter were looking harried as they worked quickly to accommodate the large influx of customers. The cafe was full of earthy colours ranging from amber to an earthy brown, filled with multi-shaped yellow tables and chairs. Posters, quotes and pictures by students and of students hung all over the cafe, giving it a distinctly young adult feel.

At the cash register, she spotted the Manager busily handing out completed orders. He was barely her height, his milky white face stained with blotches of red from the constant exertion. A small measure of respect for the manager filled her at the sight. It took a special kind of person to forego the pride that came from position and manage subordinates as well as contribute to work.

She stepped out of the growing line and approached the manager confidently with a polite smile on her face. He sent her a reproachful look and gestured for her to get back in line.

She ignored the gesture and kept her smile, "Hello, I saw the hiring advertisement outside?"

He gave her a considering look. "Name?"

"Red Black." She held out a hand to shake.

He shook her hand slowly, befuddled as he asked, "Red Black? Your name's Red Black?"

"Yes," she confirmed, trying to affect a slightly offended look as he continued staring.

"Oh, right! Sorry, the name's Henry Baldwick, but everyone calls me Henry." He smiled sheepishly before turning serious. "Can you make coffee? Breakfast?"

She nodded confidently even though it was a lie. But really, how hard could it be? She'd manage it.

"Then please wait until the rush slows down." He turned, pulling a plastic cup before brewing a quick cup of coffee, "Here, this one's on me while you wait."

"Thank you." With a smile, she accepted the coffee and ventured to one of the small tables that seated only two.

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier had been working with New Beginnings for a week. Henry had been glad to have her on board, especially since most of his employees were students who worked on irregular shifts. He was glad to pay her ten pounds above the minimum wage rate for daily fourteen hour shifts with meals included. She had been shocked at his generosity until she realised that the work included handling rambunctious students on a full-time basis. She deserved the hike.

This was the first time in the Soldier's life that she was exposed to such a high level of social interaction. It had been extremely difficult to affect a cheery personality to strangers continuously and maintain it. The first two days had been a complete failure since her smile had dropped after the first few hours of the day and resulted in constant admonishments from Henry. Before this job, the Soldier had never had to deal with such a high number of people. In Gallifrey, there had only been a maximum of six member teams or solo missions. After Gallifrey, she'd only ever kept a handful of people in her acquaintance and even then she'd kept most of them at an arm's length. With Artis, it had only ever been them, or at maximum a handful of other people at once. In the TARDIS, she'd only had to constantly deal with three companions.

 _This_ , this was seeing, meeting, talking with tens of humans _every day w_ hile keeping a pleasant facade regardless of how she felt. This job was challenging in a way she had never dealt with before. It was a job that affected what she considered a very important part of herself, her speech. The constant exposure to slang and contractions changed her diction. She couldn't bring herself to be upset about it. It helped her fit in and hide amongst the crowd.

With a week's worth of pay, she bought the bare essentials and a change of clothes, leaving her red coat on a semi-permanent basis in the cafe locker room. She was lucky that the shop had a uniform code, saving her the trouble of acquiring a large amount of clothes to keep up her facade of being a normal human.

It was on her second week that the Soldier first saw her. She would not have remembered her if it hadn't been for her recent interaction with the pinstripe-suit Doctor. Gossiping with her friends while gesturing excitedly at the medical book in her hand was Martha Jones.

* * *

0o0o0

The first conversation with Martha, or more accurately, Martha's first conversation with her went something like this,

"May I take your order?"

"A hazelnut cappuccino, shaken not stirred, with 2 spoons of sugar."

Cash was exchanged.

"Thank you. Please wait over there. Your order will be ready very soon."

Then the Soldier went over to the manager and requested a ten minute break. He opened his mouth to argue, before he registered the shaken expression on her face and nodded, his eyes narrowing in concern.

"Everything alright?"

"Yes, just need a...moment."

Then she went into the backroom, opened her locker room and considered running.

The Soldier caught sight of her shaking hands and tried to calm down, taking deep breaths. Her Senses already told her everything she needed to know. Since she retained her Time Lord body, her Time Senses had been the biggest change once she changed back. As a human, activating her Time Senses took time and conscious effort. But as a Time Lord, her Senses were instinctual. While the Chameleon circuit always showed the species that had been programmed, her basic brain activity had remained that of a Time Lord. She remembered that the Doctor had a Chameleon circuit too. But the Chameleon Circuit in the Doctor's TARDIS was out-dated and severely lacking. A Time Lord that didn't know he was a Time Lord when in Chameleon mode was useless to Gallifrey. She'd fashioned her Chameleon circuit into the more generic form found in the Army of Gallifrey.

The distraction of her thoughts calmed her down. This was Martha before the hospital on the Moon incident. This incident was already a fixed point since she had already experienced it. There was nothing she could do to change it.

Nothing she _wanted_ to do either. The Doctor had been alright in the end.

Her downtime would continue. This had nothing to do with her.

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier could give a number of excuses for why she approached Martha Jones the next time she visited the cafe; she was almost an acting Assistant Manager, she was the closest waitress available, but the truth was curiosity drove her to make conversation once she'd taken her order.

"Your food will be along shortly."

"Yea, thank you."

She strode towards the kitchen to place Martha's order while keeping an inconspicuous eye on her. Surprisingly, Martha was alone today. From what the Soldier could glean from their meagre interactions so far, Martha was a social being who thrived around people.

As Martha's food arrived, she placed it at her table. She had an internal struggle regarding whether she should engage her, but curiosity won in the end. It wasn't peak hour and there were only two other customers.

"Do you mind if I join you? It's almost break time and I could use some company." The Soldier tentatively offered, giving her a polite unassuming smile.

Martha was taken off guard and it took her a moment to gather herself together. The Soldier could pick up on Martha's rather obvious discomfort. Was what she just did normal for a human? A few weeks could not get rid of centuries of social ineptitude. What if she said no? The Soldier struggled to contain the insecurity she felt, horribly unused to engaging almost strangers in chitchat.

"Well, I can sit somewhere else," The Soldier finally said, surrendering to the awkward silence and her insecurities.

"No, it's alright! I could use the company," Martha stated, shedding her veil of discomfort and adopting a polite smile, "I thought I'd be eating alone. You rescued me." Martha winked playfully at her and something burned the Soldier's hearts at her playful retort. _She had been rescued by her._ Her heart thudded with some weak sense of accomplishment.

Settling on the seat opposite Martha with an easier smile, she pulled out her lunch, a plain cheese sandwich.

"So how is your study of medicine going?" The Soldier began, cringing internally at her awkwardness.

"Umm, how did you know?" Martha asked, surprised.

"I noticed it, the last time you came in." Dear Rassilion, she sounded creepy.

"Oh, well I'm actually graduating next month. Finally!" Martha let out a mock sigh of relief, "Four years passed by so quickly! It feels like just yesterday that I walked into Uni, all awkward and excited."

"Oh, congratulations!"

"Thanks. Can't wait to get some actual time in the hospital. How about you?"

"What about me?" The Soldier asked, confused.

"Well, are you a part timer? A student? What do you do?" Martha asked.

"Oh. I'm not a student. I work here full time."

Martha looked a little surprised, "Oh, okay. I just thought, I mean you seem pretty put together, smart I mean, didn't expect you to be a waitress. I mean, of course you are, nothing wrong with that! Ok this isn't coming out right," Martha covered her face in defeated embarrassment.

The Soldier supposed she should be feeling offended but only a condescending amusement filled her. "It's fine, though you should know, people have to be _put together_ to deal with all those customers. Being a waitress isn't easy, especially for me. One of the hardest jobs I've done."

"Oh, yeah of course," Martha's embarrassment rose and she searched for a subject change, "You've worked other jobs?"

The Soldier considered Martha for a moment, wondering if she should lie. As awkward as Martha had been, she wasn't bad and her regard for Martha for her future actions made her reluctant to lie.

"I am, was, a soldier. Stuff happened and here I am, enjoying my downtime."

"Oh!" Martha was taken aback and she tensed as she realised she was talking to a veteran. "I'm sorry if I was offensive before. But you seem just a little older than me, did you join early?"

The Soldier laughed suddenly, unable to stop herself. Martha was a quick study but then she had to be, to be graduating as a doctor. "Yes, years and years ago. I was groomed for it."

"So where were you stationed? If you don't mind me asking?"

The Soldier smiled, unable to control herself. Something about this situation was very ridiculous and she couldn't stop smiling. "I'm not allowed to talk about it."

Martha returned a small smile, "If you were in secret service or something, you're not doing a very good job of hiding it you know. You aren't supposed to be acting all mysterious, it gives the game away."

"I'll note that down for the future." The Soldier's smile grew.

"Now you've made yourself interesting! I love a good challenge you know?" Martha leaned forward in interest, "But that aside, did you do any medicine while in the army?"

"A little, yes. Nothing as intensive as you of course, but I can treat myself in the field."

"Oh, wow, I didn't realise that army training was so extensive! So what …"

And hence a new friendship was born.

* * *

0o0o0

It was just another day in the café, only a few customers present due to the Christmas season. It was only Henry and her working today, all others taking the week off for Christmas. The Soldier didn't really understand why people celebrated the birth of a man who had died years ago, but she understood religious sentiment. While Time Lords didn't worship beings, they worshipped Time and Space and she was a devout follower of Time.

The scraping of chairs against wood snapped her out of her daze and she was surprised to find three of the nine students in the café stand up suddenly, moving robotically towards the door. She watched in befuddlement as their friends followed after them, calling out and she shrugged away the event. It wasn't a big deal.

The café now empty, she turned to Henry who shrugged before turning on the TV. A sudden news broadcast cut through the football game.

"We are interrupting this broadcast to inform you that the clip of the spaceship _Guinevere_ landing with alien footage is a hoax. Despite the alien hoax, it's been reported that NATO forces are on red alert. This is a rerun of the footage from the afternoon." The newsreader said.

The Soldier straightened in alarm, scanning through her Senses. Her Time Senses hadn't picked up on any inconsistencies or deviations from time. It still didn't. Whatever was happening now was a natural progression of time.

The footage of a Sycorax leader appeared on the screen, speaking in Sycoraxic. They were skinless humanoids, their bone structures protruding like that of horses. However, they were attired for war, covered in robes, swords and helmets.

"You people are cattle to us. You now belong to the Sycorax. We will take possession of your land, minerals, and precious stones. You will surrender or they will all die. We are the almighty Sycorax and we will rule you!"

The Soldier stared in horror at the screen. The humans didn't even believe in alien life-forms and yet here stood the Sycorax, a warrior race known for their dubious honour and merciless killing. They were a race known for interstellar scavenging, raiding other planets for their resources. They were renown for their nauseating superiority complex and yet fleeing very quickly when faced with formidable opponents. Did the humans even have the technology to decode this message?

"That was almost believable, wasn't it?" Henry interrupted her thoughts. He placed a reassuring hand around her shoulder. "Don't worry, it's not real. They said it was a hoax, didn't they? The next biggest sensation. People will do and say anything to get attention these days."

She blinked at him before smiling weakly. He was right, although not about the clip. The Sycorax had clearly threatened humans but even they couldn't be foolish enough to take up 7 billion humans with one measly ship.

 _They will all die._

Something wasn't adding up here. Who were the 'they'?

She turned back to the news channel and watched as another clip played, aired only an hour ago. The Sycorax had shined light at the screen but the Soldier noted something else. In the background was a hypnotic transmitter and suddenly it all came together; the hypnotised students exiting the cafe, the clips of people standing at the edge of rooftops, the sudden light inside the café that she'd mistaken for sunlight.

Henry _had_ been right. It was a hoax. They were pretending to hold the planet hostage to con the inhabitants out of their possessions. Yet it wouldn't work because hypnotism was a parlour trick. While you could get people to do things for you under hypnotism, survival instinct prevented you from inflicting harm upon yourself. This was even in the most basic Time Lord books. Hypnotism could fail very quickly.

So there was no danger in that department. But what would happen when the trick was discovered? That was easy; declaration of hostilities, war and death between the Sycorax and humans. Yet humans were not ready for warfare on such a scale. They would win, but only barely. Their technology was too deficient. Unless the Sycorax called the entire armada. Then there would be complete destruction.

Yet none of that had happened in the future she'd encountered. But she couldn't rely on that because time wasn't set in stone, _time was fluid_. Fluid because she didn't know, hadn't experienced the event herself.

The humans needed help. _Her_ help.

A horrible sinking feeling set in her stomach. She'd been in this position before and she'd jumped in believing what she'd done was for the best.

But the truth was… this wasn't her battle. They wouldn't appreciate her help. This wasn't _her_ war, her business. This was just another of skirmish that occurred between races, like those that occurred between different countries, states and neighbours. This wasn't anything that endangered the universe. This wasn't even against her Time Senses. It was just an unfortunate introduction to alien life-forms.

And she had no right to dictate what they should do. She didn't want that kind of responsibility, that kind of blame. She didn't want to be the escape goat, not again.

As horrid as it made her feel, she would continue as she had, like a _normal_ human. Her downtime would continue.

* * *

0o0o0

A few days passed and nothing drastic happened. The Soldier was at the edge of her nerves waiting for any sign of strife yet the only sign of conflict was the one surrounding the Prime Minister Harriet Jones, who was going through rumours of being unfit for the position.

Months passed and the Soldier relaxed as she realised that nothing drastic had happened. It was foolish to think that her refraining from action would bring the downfall of an entire planet. Artis had been right. If you gave things time, they would settle themselves. People were capable of handling themselves. It hadn't even been her problem. Her Time Senses hadn't picked up on any discrepancies so it had been smart of her not to act.

The Soldier allowed herself to relax. Maybe it was time to go find Jack and say hello. Go and have a real vacation.

She felt as if a huge burden had been released from her shoulders.

* * *

0o0o0

It happened when she was on her two week vacation in Greenland. She'd picked Greenland for its isolation from people just so she could have some quiet time to herself. Dressed in her trusty red coat she'd headed off for some much needed time away from humanity.

The return from Arsuk to Nuuk city had unveiled rumours floating around.

Recently, every day for a few minutes in the evening, ghosts visited the living.

Nonplussed, the Soldier paid attention to the news that was covering the same story.

Ghosts. Not only in Greenland but all over the world.

At 5 that evening, disembodied forms materialised in the middle of town, walking around interacting with people before they disappeared. Her Senses had screamed when in close proximity to the creatures.

The Soldier slammed her palm against her face. _Ghosts!_ These weren't ghosts! These were creatures in the void trying to cross into their dimension!

The Soldier pulled out her EMS, tapping into the radio satellite in orbit to gain instantaneous access into all information on this side of the world. A few lines of code had her in the 'top secret' Intergalactic Agency of Earth, Torchwood. A few pages into the files and she wanted to strangle the innate curiosity that rested in humans. She understood that they were curious creatures, but knowing what she did, she couldn't help but groan in exasperation.

For the sake of science and security, there were thinning the fabric of the universe. What they would get, would be the creatures trapped in the void.

She couldn't even ignore this situation because tearing the fabric of the universe, even for a few minutes, made her Senses throb in pain. And even worse, she could detect the break that was happening in the world, especially since it was a break in _time_ and _space,_ aka _the universe._ It was happening in England.

And the way back to England would take three days.

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier stood board the cargo ship, unable to find any other ship that would take her back to England quickly enough. The flight to England was only once a week due to horrible weather conditions and she'd rather risk exposure on the cargo ship to Cardiff than wait any longer.

An hour away from Canary Wharf, her Senses went haywire. A few minutes later, Cybermen and Daleks started spawning out of the bay, pouring out like a silver and gold waterfall. They were battling it out even as they exited the wharf, metal parts flying around from the damage they invoked. There were only a handful of Daleks to a few thousand Cybermen yet they were evenly matched.

The Soldier felt her jaw drop in disbelief.

 _Daleks_ _ **and**_ _Cybermen?!_

Her trip to Greenland was her _first_ vacation. This was just ridiculous!

A stray Dalek blew a few hundred Cybermen into the water and noticed their ship.

" _ **YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED, VERMIN! DID YOU CYBERJUNK THINK YOU HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST THE ALMIGHTY DALEKS!"**_

" _ **HUMANS DETECTED! EXTERMINATE!"**_

The Soldier composed herself, quickly taking inventory of her weapons. She still had a few of her weapons in her coat, maybe enough to take down one Dalek. But defeating one would bring more, and she didn't have enough resources to counteract even the few dozens of Dalek that had arrived.

Well, action first and the rest she could improvise as needed.

As she moved to attack the Dalek with her voltgun, the Dalek screeched to a halt. Then, as if watching a bad comedy film, the Dalek was pulled backwards rapidly, as if someone were reeling them in like a fish caught by a hook. She watched in fascination as both Cybermen and Daleks were pulled into a building, the vacuum leaving everyone else untouched.

The Soldier closed her eyes, trying to detect the anomaly. She finally detected the break in the universe into the void, coming from the building.

Someone had saved the day. The Soldier knew exactly who.

There was only one person who had the kind of thinking necessary for enacting such an impulsive, crazy, ingenious plan. It required an adventurous spirit and a certain amount of madness.

Somehow he had saved Earth. Again. Become a hero. Again.

The Soldier gritted her teeth in resentment. When had the Doctor become a soldier?

* * *

0o0o0

The Soldier stood, looking at the near empty café. The excitement of the past few days with aliens had been bad for business. They'd been bad for everyone, but people preferred to be huddled at home with family rather than in cafes. At least for the moment.

The Soldier looked up as the café door opened, surprised to find Martha walking towards her. She felt a real smile climb up her face. It had been a while, but Martha made it a point to meet when she got time. Martha claimed she'd never met someone as interesting and mysterious as her.

"Hey there, stranger. Long time no see." The Soldier called out with a grin.

Martha paused before returning a weak one, "Hey, do you have a second? Is it fine if you take a moment away from work?"

The Soldier suddenly noted Martha's stiff back and dark circles, and she felt a surge of worry. Had the hospital incident already happened? She didn't think so, especially since she'd paid special attention to the news after all the incidents the past year.

"Sure, have a seat." She gestured to a private booth.

There was an awkward silence and the Soldier noted Martha's distressed expression.

"If there's something wrong, I'll try to help. We're friends after all." The Soldier reassured.

"You know what happened at Canary Wharf? That freak incident with all those robots around?"

The Soldier nodded slowly, dreading the conversation.

"My cousin, Adeola, she used to work there. Top secret stuff. And suddenly all of that happened and she died there. So I get it that you can't tell me what your job is, but will you please tell me what happened there?" Martha begged, before regaining her composure, "I need closure. Her family needs closure. And once Adeola died, everything about you just came together and I was hoping you would know. I think you know."

The Soldier evaluated her and Martha fidgeted in discomfort. The Soldier sighed in defeat. None of her decisions had been good lately, and what was one more bad decision?

"I really don't know Martha. I have been off the radar for a year and Canary Wharf caught me by surprise. But if you want to know what happened," the Soldier closed her eyes, remembering with perfect recall the way the building had collapsed, "there was an explosion and no one survived."

"But what about those robot men flying around? Are you telling me that's all a hoax?" Martha argued.

"I never said that Martha. The media calls it a hoax," the Soldier leaned back, calculating Martha's every reaction, "but you are a smart woman, aren't you? What do you think?"

Martha seemed overwhelmed, "Are you trying to tell me… You mean, I was right? We're not alone? Aliens are trying to take over?"

The Soldier sighed, "It's not like that. Not everyone-" Martha cut her off.

"Oh my god, you're acting like its normal! I was right; you know about aliens, you work with them! Or are you an alien?"

The Soldier paused, unsure if Martha was panicking or curious. It was hard to ease people into these kinds of conversations, and reactions could be very volatile for these realisations.

"Martha, aliens are people too. Like humans, you have good ones and bad ones."

"It's not…. I mean, you're right I guess. So what should I do?" Martha looked at her alert and ready, almost _eager_.

"There's nothing to do Martha. Live your life like normal. And remember, live and let live. And be an amazing doctor." The Soldier gave her real smile, wide and reassuring. _Martha was good._

Martha returned her smile, finally calming down.

"Thank you Red. For everything."

As Martha stood and bid her farewell, the Soldier couldn't help but feel comforted. It was enough, having someone like Martha in her life. So young, eager and full of life.

A sudden pain engulfed her Senses, signalling a major breach in the timeline.

The Soldier stood up and retreated to the back of the room. It was time to do research and narrow down the time disturbances.

She'd be damned before she let the Doctor pull one over her again. _She_ was the Soldier, the rescuer, not _him._

Her downtime was over.

* * *

 **AN: So what did you guys think? Did you like the Martha and Soldier dynamic? Did you like the Soldier giving the Doctor the metaphorical finger?**

 **Your opinions are welcome!  
**


	17. The Beat of Discovery

**AN: A very happy new year to you guys!**

 **Chapter 16**

 **The Beat of Discovery**

The Soldier alighted from the National Express Coach onto Victoria Coach Station holding a small bag containing her meagre human possessions. She huddled into her red coat to protect herself from the biting chill of London, her clothes too threadbare underneath to give adequate protection. 

The Soldier marched straight to the accompanying food stall and bought a small cup of coffee. She nursed her cup of machine coffee until the local bus to Central London arrived, boarding quickly and sitting down at the aisle seat. She ignored the passing scenery and drifted into her thoughts. 

Localized time disruptions had started a month ago and while she knew it originated from London, her impromptu travel to Greenland had left her a little hard on cash to London. While she'd been tempted to fall off the grid like the Doctor and pull a rescue out of her… _behind…_ like he did, the reminder that she would have to face UNIT and all other monitoring agencies without the TARDIS to provide her an escape prevented her from following that plan. The disruptions were mild, but continuously growing, as if someone were repeatedly travelling between two time periods. While time disruptions were a minor nuisance, they had the nasty habit of attracting time energy predators like Angels and T-flies and it was easier to fix time disruptions then deal with those predators. Given the nature of the disturbance and _common sense_ , she suspected the culprit of the activity was the Doctor as he was _the only one in the universe who even had a TARDIS_ to cause these disruptions. 

If it hadn't been for the fact that he'd started usurping her role, _her title,_ she would have ignored it. After all, it was Gallifrey law that all Time Lords had to neutralize any temporal disruptions that they created from their activities. But as it stood, after the Christmas debacle, _after Canary Wharf,_ she couldn't bear the Doctor, a hypocritical, whimsical and unqualified Time Lord, doing _her job_ …and being _better_ at it. So in return, she would fix _his mess_ and prove that she wasn't _less._ That he wasn't _better_ than her. 

The burn of indignation and her determination had driven her to resign from her job, destroying any form of financial stability that she'd had. But she was a Time Lord and she could make do. She was as good as the Doctor, even _better._ She wasn't going to let him get the better of her. Despite having been alone for centuries, the thought that she was alone, not because there was no one else like before, but because she had been _rejected,_ _wasn't good enough,_ burned. She regretted not saying something when he'd come to visit her just before his regeneration. Hadn't she meant something? It's been two years since their last meeting and he had yet to pay her a visit. So what if she hadn't told him that she was a Time Lord? Had she meant so little to him as a friend? After everything they'd done in their adventures, after repeatedly risking her life for their _team_ , how could he not even check up on her? Send a letter, or even a call on her EMS? Had she been that meaningless? Had she been that useless and unwanted? 

Deep down, she acknowledged that she was diverting blame for her loneliness onto the Doctor. She had been alone for too long now. Her one friend, Martha, had stopped visiting a few months back after the Hospital on the Moon incident. 

The Soldier tried to massage away the tension headache forming between her eyes. She was falling into her insecurities again. She had to remember that she was better now. This downtime, despite everything, had been good for her. She was more grounded and passed more convincingly as human despite having deactivated her Chameleon circuit. But downtime was _downtime_ ; it needed to end. 

Now that she was back in London, she wondered if her decision to remain as a Time Lord was a good one, especially since high officials in London were monitoring alien activity. She found it difficult to imagine humans in this age presenting any challenge to her. Perhaps it was arrogant of her to think so but it was also true. Humans with their current technology were no match for her. 

The Soldier alighted from the bus and homed into the area of time disruptions, trying to dismiss the tang of nostalgia hitting her from her last visit in the 1940s. A lot had changed but much more had remained the same. But she knew very few people in London and her funds were meagre at best, rendering an extended stay in London void. It would be best if she resolved the time disruptions as soon as possible and returned to Cardiff. 

The Soldier wandered through Central London, trying to narrow down the temporally disrupted zone. The region narrowed down to an official looking three-story building with a large fountain spouting water out of three Romanesque male statues. On the threshold of the property, near the sidewalk, a falafel stand was having large influx of customers. 

The Soldier stood outside, surprised at the lack of mayhem in the scene. Generally anything that included the Doctor was a flurry of activity, so it was a shock to only see a disturbance near the falafel stand. 

Curious and slightly unsettled, the Soldier made her way to the stand and stood last in line, content to watch the vendor while waiting for the lunch rush to get over. The dark-haired man at the stand gave her a confused and wary look. 

"Is the'e something you wan'?" 

"Uh," she made a snap decision, "Just a chicken falafel." 

The man worked quickly to make hers, then handed it out firmly. "Pay and go. I wan' no trouble." 

A little unnerved at the hostility, she apologized. "Sorry I didn't mean to offend you." 

"Then you shouldn't hang aroun' just staring like that. Very weird." 

"Uh. Did you see a rather odd guy come out or go through these gates?" She asked outright, ignoring his snub. Her attempt at discrete information gathering had failed spectacularly. She was losing her touch. 

"Weirder than you?" He paused, looking smug. "I donno." 

She retreated, giving up on getting anything from the man. Today was just not her day. She halted suddenly, noting the odd rhythm the man was beating out. 

_Thum. Thuddum. Thummm. Thudum._

The beat was on repeat and the man seemed to be in a trance. She snapped herself out of it and shook her head. Humans called those beats earworms, didn't they? 

The Soldier approached the building and saw large campaign posters decorating the building. The posters were decorated with blue and red, advertising the next PM candidates: a young blonde man dressed in formal clothing with a charismatic smile and an older, rather austere gentleman with a smug look. Both their campaign messages seemed rather weak to the Soldier. 

Her Senses buzzed, confirming this area as the focal point for the temporal disturbance. Her gut was warning her that something was amiss. Nothing had gone according to her expectations and the area was too _calm_ to have had any Doctor interference. 

Or he had decided to give his 'help' for the next elections. 

But he wouldn't. Surely, he wouldn't. Despite his chaotic insanity, even the Doctor knew not to interfere in Earth's politics. 

Didn't he? 

Knowing the Doctor, he'd use some imagined moral dilemma to justify his interference. She clenched her teeth in remembered irritation as she walked through the sliding doors. 

"Is the Doctor in?" She asked the receptionist seated professionally behind the table. 

"Sorry, doctor who? Do you have an appointment?" The receptionist gave her placid smile. 

That was rather telling. Plan B then. 

"I'm here about the _incident_. I'm here for the cleanup." 

The receptionist gave her a dubious look, looking her up and down. 

"What incident? There haven't been any spills today, though you look more like you're from security." 

She faked a sigh and shook her head before straightening up. "Miss, I _am_ from security. We tend to operate _discretely._ " 

"Oh, oh! You're here to see Dr. Lazarus! Wait let me check." The receptionist perused the files on her desk and pulled out a memo that had 'URGENT' printed at the front. 

"You're with UNIT then?" 

Claiming to be from UNIT would only paint a target on her back, especially when the designated UNIT team reached here. But luckily, something _had_ happened which she could captialize on, especially since UNIT dealt with extraterrestrial activity. She quickly ran through the meager list of people she knew on Earth. Jack. Jack worked with Torchwood. 

"No, Torchwood." 

"Torchwood? Haven't they shut down or something?" The receptionist brightened up at the chance of hearing confidential information. 

"Classified miss. Call the people who can brief me, _please_." The Soldier said sternly. 

"Right!" The receptionist, frazzled, checked haphazardly through the clutter on her table and paused upon reading one of her memos. 

"Dr. Lazarus passed away a few days ago. All his work was taken by his sponsor." 

"His sponsor?" 

"Mr. Harold Saxon." The Soldier stared pointedly at her. "I'll book you an appointment." 

"Appointment?" The Soldier asked condescendingly. "He needs to meet me right now." 

The receptionist looked uncertain. "I don't think he's available right now." 

The Soldier shot her a quelling glance. 

"I'll try to reach him for you. Please wait right there." She replied with a frozen smile before gesturing to the leather couch in the corner. 

"Let Mr. Saxon know he's keeping Torchwood waiting." 

The Soldier turned sharply and sat lithely on the couch. Her centuries as an officer had pulled her through for that little act. She kept an eye on the receptionist who was giving her nervous looks every time their eyes met. 

A few minutes passed before a ping of an elevator alerted her to someone's arrival. The young blond man adorning the posters outside strutted out and the receptionist rushed towards him, whispering hurriedly. The man stared at the receptionist in slight disgust for a moment, disdaining her proximity before his eyes wandered to her. 

A grin took over his face and he waved the receptionist off before strutting casually towards her. 

So this was Harold Saxon. 

"I didn't know Torchwood was still around! Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Harold Saxon; it's an absolute pleasure to meet you." 

He extended his hand in welcome. The Soldier stood there, unresponsive. 

Her Senses were tingling insistently, like they did every time she had met the Doctor. Was it him? Regenerated again? But why did he have a name? Was he in disguise, like when he'd called himself John Smith? But the Doctor dabbling in human politics? The thought made the hair stand on the back of her neck in horror. 

"I'm Red. Are you...a doctor?" 

His face transformed into genuine surprise before shaking his head slightly with a small grin. "I've been called many things but a doctor, unfortunately, is not one of them." 

"I see." The Soldier's head spun with the information. If it was the Doctor, then he would have claimed that title instantly in his usual gregarious manner, so why were her Senses still humming? Maybe, it was because they were at the centre of the time disruptions? Or perhaps the Doctor was deep undercover? A prickle of irritation swept through her before Saxon's voice interrupted her thoughts. 

"So what can I do for you Miss Red?" 

"I need information about Dr. Lazarus's experiments. There was a large incident due to his mistakes." 

"Well, yes I was told something terrible happened. Please, if you would follow me to my office." The man gave a pretentious twirl, before giving her a bow that almost seemed to mock her. 

She followed him quietly, observing him closely as he led the way to his office. She was surprised to find him giving her evaluating looks, a look of cold calculation in his eyes whenever he turned around to ensure she was following. 

He opened the door to a spacious room decorated in beige and black furniture. A wide black desk spanned out across the centre of the room while full glass windows decorated the back, giving a clear view into London streets. A thick black leather chair sat at one end while two plastic chairs sat at another. 

Saxon smiled invitingly and gestured to the plastic chairs before settling slowly into his leather chair, his fingers clasped together in front of his face. 

The Soldier gave him an assessing look then remained standing.

"So how can I help you Miss Red from Torchwood?" He intoned mockingly.

The Soldier weighed her words carefully. His room, his false demeanour and the look in his eyes said more about him than words ever could.

"I need the details for the Lazarus experiment; who authorised it, what it entailed and where it went wrong."

"Well, don't take this the wrong way... Shouldn't Torchwood already have all these details? Why are you here asking it of me?" Saxon sent her a calculating look and the Soldier felt a spike of fear that she'd been discovered.

"You're the sponsor, so you get these questions. Are you telling me you've never faced an investigation before, Mr. Saxon?" The Soldier retorted doubtfully.

He laughed, "Well, that's what I get for being precocious. I'll certainly cooperate with you, Red." He tapped out a rhythm as he spoke and the Soldier was discomfited when she realised she recognised it. 

_Thum. Thuddum. Thummm. Thudum._

"...caused a mutation in his genetic makeup, forcing the recessive genes to the front. I hope you got all that," he smiled smugly as he noticed her distraction, " I don't want to be blamed because you weren't paying attention."

The Soldier glared at him in rebuke, having absorbed his words despite her distraction.

"I need the records, observations, machines and anything else you may have of this experiment. It's too dangerous to have them lying around."

"Well, nothing useful came out of the experiment except for a man devolving to a lizard, so please feel free. Even the Lazarus machine malfunctioned after some doctor took it apart." He gave her a dismissive shrug, his hand suddenly hiding his mouth. The Soldier had the distinct feeling that he was laughing at her.

"That changes nothing. That knowledge is too dangerous for humans and needs to be confiscated." The Soldier thought quickly through the facts presented to her. Living forever, even deaging was impossible, unless you were a Time Lord. This technology was far too advanced for this timeline and she needed to see who had presented this idea. These were experiments that Time Lords had done in the early ages after they had discovered the Time Vortex. Humans were centuries away from such developments.

"Where did Dr. Lazarus's inspiration come from?"

"Well, it's hard to say. After all that extra-terrestrial activity of the last few years, the mortality of _us humans_ , became a huge concern and I had an idea. Lazarus seemed to have the intelligence and theoretical knowledge required to follow it through." He gave a modest shrug, shaking his head sadly as he continued, "Not one of my better ideas, I must admit."

"Where were you at the time of the incident?" She asked coldly, disbelieving his entire demeanour. Everything he did, either by design or subconscious, seemed to mock her.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't in London when all this was happening, I only found out two-no-three days ago. I had to compile all that data and make sure it wouldn't get stolen. It's useless now anyways." He took out a folder out from his desk and waved it around before throwing it carelessly on top.

"Where were you when all this was happening?" She repeated.

"Somewhere far, far away." He grinned at her. He got up, circling the desk before resting his arm intimately around her shoulder, his fingers tapping that rhythm again, right next to her ear. 

_Thum. Thuddum. Thummm. Thudum._

The Soldier shook his arm off, growing angry at herself for fixating on the earworm. She forcibly threw the compulsion of the earworm away. Earworms were pranks that children played on Gallifrey, making people do silly things under its compulsion. It was child's play to dismiss its compulsion. For a Time Lord.

She glared at him in annoyance and he pouted in mock hurt.

"You're kind of _interesting_ , aren't you? I can't say what it is, but there's something _special_ about you." 

The Soldier was unnerved by his inflection. There was something about the man that was setting off her danger alarms. She couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something _wrong_ with him. What human would be so comfortable when an investigative officer arrived to interrogate them? He was too confident, too secure in his position. This wasn't the Doctor. No reincarnation of his would be like this, so dismissive, mocking and arrogant. So casually cruel. 

"Is there any other similar projects you're sponsoring? Actually Torchwood would like a copy of all your sponsorships."

"You don't have to worry about that." He waved his arm dismissively, settling back down on his chair. "After the disaster with Lazarus, we're no longer interested in scientific sponsorships. At least for the time being."

"And I'm just supposed to take your word on that?" The Soldier countered. She watched him tap out that rhythm on the desk again.

"Yes! Please do! But let it not be said that I wasn't as helpful as possible." He smiled and the Soldier wasn't sure if he was being sincere or not. "I've heard rumours about someone experimenting with _time travel_. You hear stories like this all the time, of course, but apparently Dr Lazarus's rival, Dr. Murral couldn't bear being left behind in the dust after the recent breakthroughs made by Dr. Lazarus. Is that interesting enough for you, _officer of Torchwood_?"

"As much as I appreciate your warning, I still need a list of all your sponsorships. This is not up for debate."

"Well then, I'll be direct. No. _That's_ not up for debate." Saxon gave her a hard smile, daring her to challenge him.

"Mr. Saxon, you have been directly involved in one catastrophic incident and have knowledge of another potential incident. You are under obligation to provide all relevant information to help our investigation." 

"See, I'm beginning to doubt this is a proper investigation. Torchwood agents are usually assigned as pairs and here you are, alone. Not only that, all the information you gained was provided by me. I'm not stupid Miss Red, you had no prior knowledge about the Lazarus case before coming into this room." He got up and leaned across the desk, giving her a threatening, almost eager look. "Who are you, Miss Red? Quickly now, before I call security." 

She had been discovered. How? Her acting may have had a few flaws but her experience in the field should have made it foolproof. Now there were only two options before her. Admit defeat, or deny, deny and deny.

"I _am_ security Mr. Saxon." The Soldier stood up in retaliation. "And it's exceedingly clear that you'll invent ridiculous lies in order to avoid presenting your sponsorship list. I will ask you one more time before the choice is taken away from you. And then we'll book you under obstruction of justice. Only decency is prompting me to give you the illusion of choice Mr. Saxon."

"You're good. Really, really good. If I had been anyone else, you would have fooled me." Saxon began, circling the table slowly. The Soldier backed away slowly, unable to dismiss her growing fear. He was bluffing, _bluffing!_

He backed her until she collapsed onto one of the plastic chairs.

"Now, out with it Red. Because I know you're lying. I have close ties with the Secretary of Defense, and I'm in the running for the next PM candidate. Come on now," He tapped that horrible rhythm directly onto her arm whilst giving her a maniac smile, "You know you want to tell me. You trust me. What exactly do you want from me? I might even grant it to you, if you're a good obedient girl. Hmm?"

The Soldier wrenched her gaze from his maniac smile and looked into his eyes, unable to believe his audacity. Their eyes met and she didn't know if it was the proximity, or the direct skin contact but for a second it was as if there was a foreign presence in her mind. It was but for a scant second, her Time Lord brain too broken to sustain any presence but her own. But it was enough; this man had hypnotic powers...almost as if...he were...a..

 _It couldn't be. It's wishful thinking. Every telepathic alien isn't a potential Time Lord._

Her body reacted and a moment later he was face down on the desk, his arm bent behind his back at breaking point. When in doubt, a demonstration of force was the best solution.

"Concede. Or else."

Saxon started laughing maniacally, disregarding the pressure on his arm as he shook in laughter.

"After all the people I've been looking for and here you are for a fake investigation." Suddenly Saxon jerked his twisted arm back and jumped back, trying to unsettle the Soldier by backing her into the arm of the plastic chair. Her grip loosened slightly and that was all he needed to push her face first onto the desk, twisting both her arms behind her back, locking her legs with his.

" _You_ concede, or else."

The Soldier felt her back vibrate with his laughter and she lay in stunned shock that she'd been physically overpowered. She might have been out of shape, but that didn't change centuries of inbuilt muscle and mental memory.

Her, one of the last Time Lords, the last Gallifreyan soldier, _conceding_? To a _psychopath?_

 _Never._

She jolted her head back for a headbutt and missed but just as she'd done, he loosened his grip, allowing her to twist a little before stomping on his shins brutally. He collapsed, holding his legs tightly to himself as he crawled away from her.

"I really am out of shape. Me, the Master, brought to life to end the Time War, and here I am, crawling in front of a thing like _you._ "

The Soldier, caught in the haze of battle, froze as she registered his words.

"What did you just say?"

"Finally came back to your senses, have you, my violent Time Lady?" He clenched his shins before standing up shakily. "Will you stop now?"

He observed her dumbfounded look and smirked, "Yes, my thoughts exactly. I was wondering why the hypnosis wasn't taking, how could I have guessed it was because you were a Time Lady? Though, by convention, we should have just known."

His smirk grew as he saw her jaw open slightly as if to respond, but closed again.

"So, _officer,_ want to take a seat? Want to resume your _investigation?_ " 

The Soldier's head spun. There was another Time Lord that _wasn't_ the Doctor. A Time Lord from the Last War, someone who could probably tell her what had actually happened on Gallifrey. The Master...why was his title sending danger bells through her? The Master, wasn't there rumours circulating about him? About how he'd looked into the Vortex and turned _crazy,_ always claiming that he could hear something that no one else could? He was also known to have a love-hate relationship with...the Doctor...he was known as a nuisance among Time Lords, doing as he pleased for conquest and his one upmanship against the Doctor. He was a Time Lord who loved to be in command but was, unfortunately, a horrible leader, too narcissistic to lead or profit anyone but himself. And this correlated with her own observation of him, his language, his demeanour, even his room spoke of this desire to dominate. 

But...

There was _someone else_ ….

It wasn't just the Doctor and her. Now there was _one more Time Lord._

And if her Senses were accurate before, he had his own TARDIS.

She wasn't trapped on Earth anymore. Not if she had anything to say about it.

This wasn't going to be like last time, with the Doctor. She wouldn't let him dominate her, she'd be upfront about who she was, from the beginning. And considering his history, she might need to undertake a bit of precaution, but she knew she could make it work.

She wasn't going to be alone anymore. Not if she had anything to say about it.

She shook herself out of her stupor as the Master waited, seated patiently behind his desk, and made her way to one of the plastic chairs.

"So I think we started off on the wrong foot," the Master began cheerfully, leaning forward eagerly, "now since you were so eager with your questions earlier, I'll humour them. Anything you want to ask?"

"How," the Soldier swallowed, trying to get rid of her dry throat and attaining her composure, "How are you still alive? Do you know what happened to Gallifrey? Exactly what happened?"

"Well, I _am_ the Master. The council brought me back to life, to fight in the Time War. I received elite training but I was _there._ I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. There was nothing I could do, so I did the only thing I could. I survived. The Daleks set out to find me, hunted me down, so I went to the only place I could, to the End. The End of All Things. You?"

"I was banished from Gallifrey, a few centuries into the War. I did something the Council and Rassillion didn't like, and I was exiled under the threat of execution if I returned."

"That's pretty harsh, even for them. What did you do? What _do_ you do?"

The Soldier sighed, "I am Red Alpha, classified as the Soldier. Punishments by the Army Council aren't as lenient as the others."

The Master whistled, "Isn't betrayal or going against Rassilion classed as execution by the Army Council? Seems like they were plenty lenient to me…"

"So what happened? How did it happen?"

"How did what happen?"

"Why did Gallifrey go?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me."

The Soldier slumped back in defeat, closing her eyes before remembering her goal.

She opened her eyes and was discomfited by the weighing look in his eyes as he looked her up and down.

"Do you have a TARDIS?"

"...Depends."

"On what?"

"Why you're asking." The Master smiled, "I'm not a generous man, Red. I don't like to share, especially not TARDISes. But since it's _you,_ I _might_ make an exception. So, what do you want it for?"

The Soldier analysed him, knowing that she should doubt his sincerity, but he was...he didn't seem like he was _lying_.

But she'd stepped on eggshells with the Doctor before, and it had gotten her _nothing_. She could be upfront with the Master, and it seemed like he'd appreciate it, ironic though it was, judging from his title.

"I'll be straight with you. I want to get away. From Earth. From humans. I've been here for too long."

"Oh. Well, that's unfortunate. I can't actually travel anywhere with my TARDIS right now, at least nowhere except here and the End of the Universe." He shrugged nonchalantly, relaxing into his chair.

"That's odd. Did you lock your coordinates?" She asked, puzzled.

"Yep, just a malfunction."

"But it can easily be fixed-"

" I know, fix the trachoid crystal into the Septa Chamber and reset the entire mechanism. Unfortunately, the reset mechanism is controlled remotely."

"But there is a reset mechanism in the main console room, just isomorphically controlled. There shouldn't be a problem."

The Master glared at her in annoyance, "Like I said, a malfunction."

She gave him a _look_. Was he saying….did he _steal_ someone's... it really didn't matter anymore, did it? It was just them now and if he'd been able to salvage a TARDIS or save one or even _steal_ one before they'd all been destroyed... that was _resourceful,_ wasn't it? That was Doctor 101.

"There _is_ a way to fix it. That's what I have Dr. Murral working on. I actually don't have the time to sit and experiment so I passed all my theories to scientists here so they can do the grunt work _for_ me."

"So, you _did_ employ Dr. Murral then?" the Soldier stated dryly, "What are you having him do?"

"Well, the previous owner of the TARDIS left a _hand_ behind, so I'm having the scientist re-energize the trachoid crystal so that the TARDIS recognizes me as the owner instead of the previous one."

"Left a _hand_ behind, did he? _"_ Her eyebrows were reaching her hair in shock. Did he think she was stupid?

"It wasn't me. I swear it. His body part was lying there when I came in." He corrected, aware that he had been implying that he'd killed another Time Lord just to get his hands on a TARDIS. Which, to be honest, wasn't the _wrong_ impression _._

"So will you help me?" The Master had an entreating expression on his face, leaning towards her, "I know we started off badly, but I'm genuinely glad that I found you. Will you help me?"

"What will I get out of it?"

"Well, that's obvious, isn't it? It's just you and me now. We only have each other. Unless you know any _other_ Time Lords that are still jumping around?" He paused, waiting for her to fill it with a yes, but she remained silent, "You and I are a team now."

"And how do I know that you won't just disappear on me the moment your TARDIS is fixed?" She asked critically.

"Well, that's upto you. What should I do to convince you?" He leaned back, tossing his legs over the table.

"Imprint my signature onto the TARDIS trachoid crystal too. That'll make me part owner."

The Master grinned and nodded without hesitation. "Done."

"Then it's a pleasure to do business with you." The Soldier said, barely speaking through her shock. She hadn't expected this to be so easy. The Master, as he had also admitted, didn't like sharing yet he was ready to share ownership of his stolen TARDIS? That...was incomprehensible.

He...had to be lying.

Unless…

He was genuinely pleased to see another surviving Time Lord. That wasn't an impossible notion to grasp. Thinking you were the last of your kind changed you...and the notion that one of us would always be able to find the other through this TARDIS was an appealing thought. Especially since TARDISes were linked intrinsically to their owners.

Like the humans said, it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Then please get the trachoid crystal functional and erase the previous biological imprint. I know I can trust you to handle and ensure there are no more temporal disruptions. Those trachoid crystals can be so tetchy."

"And why won't you be helping?"

"Because I have other business."

The Soldier stared pointedly at him, "Why are you getting involved in human politics?"

"Just...boredom. Plus it's astonishing how much trouble the human race can get into. Did you know, just the other day I had to issue orders to get rid of a Racnoss ship? A racnoss ship! They've been extinct since the Dark Times. It's exciting." The Master grinned, shooting her a wink.

"Another wannabe soldier, huh?" The Soldier teased.

"I'm not a soldier. I'm more of a commanding officer." He denied petulantly.

"Still not a good reason to skip out on TARDIS repairs." She raised an eyebrow in reproach.

"Yeah, about that, I'll be monitoring the TARDIS. You'll be working with the trachoid crystal. Fair trade isn't it? Because even I can't trust that you won't take off with the TARDIS once you're done imprinting onto the crystal."

The Soldier paused then nodded reluctantly, "Fair enough."

"Now, out. I have work to do." He waved her out dismissively and the Soldier felt a wave of irritation at the act.

"Since this is long term, I need a place to stay."

The Master looked at her confused, before an undecipherable look passed through his features followed by glee, "Sure, sure. My human companion, Vivian, show her this," the Master passed her a card, "she'll sort it all out."

The Soldier felt a genuine smile take over her features. Despite all of his eccentricities, the Master had been a lot more helpful than the Doctor had ever been.

"Thank you, Master. I am glad that I found you." She extended her hand with a warm smile.

"Me too. And I like it when you call me Master." He gave her a wink as he extended his arm. As he held it, he pulled her into his arms and held her loosely as he whispered into her ears,

"This is the beginning of better times. I'll bring about the _best of times_ as the Master."

 **AN: Thank you!**

 **Who can guess what's coming up next? Who does/doesn't believe the Master? What relationship do you think they're going to develop?**

 **Please review!**


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